Director

The young and unwavering Committee members, led by Nettie Smith Owens and Isabel Sims Willard, worked with Bob Edwards, then President of Clemson College, on how the Society would be involved with Hanover. After a meeting with Bob Edwards, Mel Wilson, Henry Hill, and Facilities Director David Watson, the Spartanburg Committee began locating furnishings. Clemson University agreed to pay for insurance to cover the house and furniture provided that the Dames kept a detailed inventory. The Committee researched inventories of the St. Juliens, Ravenels, and neighboring wills in Berkeley County to find specific pieces. By acquiring period pieces, Hanover offers an authentic representation of an 18th-century rice plantation, due solely to the efforts of the dedicated NSCDA-SC members. Once complete, the furnishings embodied the wealth and status of the Julien and Ravenel families through the American Revolution.On June 7, 1962, Hanover was officially opened by the Colonial Dames as a museum, culminating a nearly decade-long process of acquiring a diverse collection of period pieces as well as reproductions, such as the elaborately sewn crewel work curtains designed by Susan Lewis Brown. Following the official opening of Hanover as an historic house museum, the NSCDA-SC members continue to provide support for the collections and conservation unto this day. Projects have included reproduction period light fixtures, interior painting, artifact conservation, and a created endowment. No matter how captivating the story of the Huguenots and Hanover’s early residents, without the partnership of the Spartanburg Committee, National Society Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA) and Clemson University, the full restoration of Hanover, focusing on the period from 1700-1750, would have never been told.NSCDA-SC members undertook great efforts to furnish the house, raising funds to ensure that Hanover would open to the public at no expense. Although Clemson had already made antique reproductions, the Society wanted genuine artifacts. Throughout Tryon and Spartanburg, members raised funds by hosting oyster roasts, teas, and silver exhibits; they also sold brass polish, postcards, and etchings of Hanover.Besides fundraising, members made generous financial donations; Isabel Sims Willard and her mother, Mrs. Sims, furnished one of the bedrooms.

From its organizing, the Spartanburg Committee, National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of South Carolina (NSCDA-SC) determined to follow the main objective of the National Society’s Constitution "to preserve and restore buildings connected with the early history of our country," by assisting the interior restoration and furnishing of Hanover House during the period from 1700 to 1750.

Hanover House and the Colonial Dames

Built in 1716, likely by enslaved laborers, in Berkeley County, S.C., Hanover House functioned primarily as a rice plantation. Hanover House was named by the St. Julien family to honor George I, Elector of Hanover, "for his assistance to French Huguenots in fleeing France after the 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes." In the mortar of one of the chimneys, Paul de St. Julien wrote, "Peu a Peu," from the French proverb which means, "Little by little the bird builds its nest."Hanover House is an excellent example of Huguenot architecture with its balanced symmetry, gambrel roof, dormers, and variety of French details. The siding of the home was made from Black cypress timbers and features massive triple-flute chimneys to accommodate the raised basement and its warming kitchens.In 1741, Mary de St. Julien inherited Hanover House and over 720 acres from her father. In September of 1750, she married her cousin Henry Ravenel of Pooshee. After Henry's death in 1785, their son Stephen Ravenel left Hanover to his brother, Daniel James Ravenel. Daniel would bequest Hanover to his great-nephew Henry LeNoble Stevens, whose daughter, Henrietta LeNoble Stevens White, was the last member of the St. Julien/Ravenel family to own Hanover House.After 150 years of St. Julien/Ravenel ownership, "progress threatened to destroy the home" in the 1940s. The plans for a man-made lake, Lake Moultrie, placed Hanover House in its path and the Historic American Buildings Survey of the Santee-Cooper basin noted that "Hanover House was of national significance." To save the home from the water, Hanover was moved 250 miles north to Clemson University, home of the state's architectural school. In 1994, Hanover was moved once again, this time relocated to the South Carolina Botanical Garden, and now "overlooks an heirloom vegetable garden."Hanover House is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as a monument of an early French Huguenot structure. Beginning in the 1950s, the Spartanburg Committee of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America assisted in providing furnishings for Hanover House that were representative of 1700-1750 and a low country rice plantation.

This restored historic home was built between 1714 and 1716 by Paul de St. Julien, a French Huguenot (a French Protestant of the Reformed Church of France). Its original location was in Berkeley County, and in August 1941, it was dismantled and rebuilt on Clemson University's campus, saving the home from being submerged in the man-made lake, Lake Moultrie. The over 700-acre property plantation was named for English King George I, the former Elector of Hanover, who provided opportunities for Huguenots to flee persecution in France. The house moved to S.C. Botanical Garden in 1994, is open to the public for tours on the weekend; Hanover House is furnished with items dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. It was added to the National Register for Historic Places in 1970.

In 1741, Paul de St Julien wrote his will, and he names five of the enslaved African Americans at Hanover. At the time of his death, there are 45 enslaved persons at Hanover. Between his will and the inventory of his estate, we do know the names given to the enslaved by Paul; however, we only know one familial relationship of Lucy and her youngest child Susy.We do not know the ages or origins of the enslaved African Americans nor does the inventory list the gender of all the children.These enslaved persons may have been from the West Coast of Africa, known as the “Rice Coast.” These Africans had the expertise of planting, harvesting and processing rice, These enslaved laborers were tied to the 720 acres of Hanover for generations, growing wealth and status of the white families.    As the land was inherited by Stephen Ravenel from his father Henry, so too were the enslaved African Americans. Although the status and wealth of Hanover was made possible only through the labor of these African Americans, their names, families, and aspects of their lives are lost to history, unrecorded by the white families who enslaved them, except for those whose names appear in the wills, forever bound to the land and extended Ravenel families.When Stephen signed his will on July 14, 1817, he named fifteen of the enslaved persons, whom likely labored and lived at Hanover. Gibby, an African American boy, was the first enslaved person named, and Gibby alone is given to Stephen’s brother Henry Ravenel. Daniel James Ravenel, who would inherit Hanover property, also inherited Jenny, Abram, Dick, Market, Wilson, Charley, Pleasant, Molly, Cain, Mary, Cuffey, Old Clafs, Sue, and Daniel, most likely all tied to Hanover’s 720 acres. Nephew John inherited Stephen’s “waiting man named Brafs,” and the other enslaved persons owned by Stephen Ravenel are unnamed nor counted; Stephen wrote “All the rest of my negroes not herein before given &amp; devised, I give &amp; bequeath to my brothers Rene and Paul to be equally divided between them.” This will made no mention of keeping enslaved families together nor are there any explanations for how his decisions were made to separate Gibby or Brafs or to divide any of the other enslaved African Americans between his male relatives. Daniel James Ravenel also had no heirs, and in his will, dated on June 29,1836, he named only one enslaved person in specifically.  Philip is described as “my Mulatto Boy Slave” by Daniel, and Daniel required that his Executors send Philip “out to a trade and if possible to give him his freedom.” There are no known records that give us information on Philip, who his parents were, or what was his fate.All of the enslaved persons owned by Daniel are tied to the either his Brunswick Plantation or Hanover Plantation; Daniel bequeathed to his nephew Benjamin P. Ravenel Brunsick “with all lands adjoining thereto with all the negroes thereon” and if Benjamin died without heirs, then Daniel’s grandnephew would inherit the above mentioned. Hanover “with all the lands adjoining thereto with all the negroes thereon” were left to Daniel grandnephew Henry LeNoble Stevens, the last of the antebellum owners of the enslaved African Americans who were tied to Hanover. If Henry did not reach the age of 21 years old, then Daniel’s grandnephew William P. Ravenel would have inherited in Henry’s place. Henry LeNoble Stevens enlisted and died serving the Confederacy. His daughter Henrietta LeNoble Stevens White eventually inherited Hanover property; however, how emancipation changed the lives of the enslaved persons at Hanover is unknown today. For the enslaved at Hanover, few times only the names at one brief snapshot are known, and only the familiar relationship of Lucy and her youngest daughter Susy was documented by Paul de St Julien in his will.

The African Americans at Hanover House from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries have left no known written records, documenting their lives and families in their own words. The only surviving records are scant, and they are primarily legal documents, last wills &amp; testaments, inventories of estates, and census records.

The African American Experience at Hanover House

By the 1930s, Hanover House was abandoned; it was more than 70 years older than any other home in Berkeley County. The house was saved from inundation during the creation of Lake Moultrie because of its age and the fact that it was the only surviving example of French Huguenot architecture in South Carolina.According to the 1941 article, "Historic Hanover House Of Berkley Moved to Clemson: Building Erected In 1716 Will Be Put In Its Original Form," by Manuel J. Rodgers in The Greenville News, Hanover's move to Clemson began with its deconstruction on August 19, 1941. A two-year delay was necessary during World War 11, but Hanover House was "complete in all detail" on November 1, 1945. This move began 200 years after the death of its original owner, Paul de St. Julien, in 1741.Once rebuilt on Clemson's main campus, the Spartanburg Committee of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA) took charge of recreating the Hanover House interior. The project was not completed until Hanover House was open to the public on June 7, 1962. The Greenville News piece, "Hanover House Opens Doors Thursday," said, The Spartanburg Committee has been working for nearly 20 years to furnish the old home, not as a museum, but to recreate the atmosphere of the era in which it was built."

Hanover House, first located in the frontier that would later be known as St. John's Parish, was constructed from handmade brick and local Black cypress by enslaved persons on land that Paul de St. Julien, a Huguenot or French Protestant, inherited. He was part of the first de St. Julien generation born in Charles Towne, Carolina Colony rather than in France.Mary de St. Julien, the daughter of Paul de St. Julien and Mary Amey Ravenel inherited Hanover House and more than 720 acres in 1741 after her father's death. Although young, Mary became a plantation mistress and slave owner, inheriting Folly, an African-American girl, and Lisset, an African-American woman. Until Mary wed Henry Ravenel in September 1750, she was the sole owner of Hanover for nine years. Afterward, Hanover stayed in the Ravenel family for 138 years before it was sold to a hunting syndicate in the early 20th century.

Hanover House on the Move

After the environmental impact study of the Santee Cooper Project report of Historic American Buildings Survey Architect Thomas Waterman, Clemson, the only architectural college in South Carolina, was selected to save Hanover. Without Waterman and his report, there would be no Hanover today.Waterman, one of the most noted historic preservation architects and architectural historians of his generation, made his pronouncement and single-handedly spearheaded the preservation of Hanover. As noted in his report, “Hanover is the only house in the proposed region of inundation the loss of which can be considered of national importance . . . It is hoped that arrangements can be made for its careful reconstruction on a suitable site, as an example of an early South Carolina house of Anglo-French antecedents.”Waterman’s case for the historic preservation was that Hanover should be preserved because. . . the mannerisms of the Huguenot builder are so pronounced as to give the building a character entirely its own. It recalls the houses of the Guadalupe in the French West Indies, in its gambrel roof, wide spreading dormers, and in the detail of the woodwork. The placement of the chimneys of Hanover at the ends is also a variation from the South Carolina examples. . . The shape of the main roof has a rather Gaelic aspect, recalling roof lines in Martinique, Guadalupe, and St. Croix. Certainly the house is an interesting blending of French and English forms and details. The interior partitions are of unusual form perhaps of ‘French derivation’ . . . They are formed by vertical sheathing, covered with a series of vertical and horizontal battens forming pseudo panels. Behind the sheathing are widely spaced studs to give it rigidity. In the north wall is a cupboard with arched paneled doors, and in the rear hall an open corner cupboard. The exterior walls and soffit of the roof are covered with horizontal board, some of which are lapped in the reverse manner of weather boards, evidently to prevent rain from penetrating.David Watson and Greenville architect Leon Legrand led the project, assisted by a group of Works Projects Administration (WPA) workmen. Prior to dismantling, each piece of lumber was numbered with a small piece of white tin and each section was photographed, which made it possible to return each timber to its original position. Once at Clemson, the frame was erected, and new cypress weatherboarding, duplicating the original pattern, was attached. E. H. Hamilton rebuilt the foundation walls and reassembled the chimneys. Like the rest of America, World War II paused Hanover’s reconstruction. After a two-year hiatus, Hanover was “complete in all detail” on November 1, 1945. Samuel G. Stoney of Charleston was the chief restoration consultant, along with Albert Simons, an architect and Stoney’s brother-in-law who provided restoration drawings. Stoney’s research revealed that Hanover had large porches or piazzas but probably small stoops. He also found that the original basement had contained cold storage rooms and a working kitchen, surmising that the slots in the north foundation walls were used as places for aiming guns since built on the frontier. Stoney found a small original shutter catch from Hanover which he donated to the Charleston Museum. Reproductions of the original were made for Hanover. E. Milby Burton, Director of the Charleston Museum, was a consultant for the interior restoration. Stoney and Gilbert Hoffman selected the interior paint for Hanover from similar documented 18th-century colors. Much of the original upstairs flooring were removed and used in some of the downstairs rooms. An entirely new second story floor was installed. Many of the interior hardware pieces and furnishings were produced at Clemson.

A little more than 200 years after Paul de St Julien died in 1741, Clemson College began the daunting task of disassembling Hanover House on August 19, 1941. Clemson received a grant worth $1,270 from the Public Service Authority to undertake the project of relocating Hanover House to its main campus, some 250 miles away in order to save Hanover from inundation with the coming manmade Lake Moultrie.

Hanover House Restoration

Framed on the wall between the master bedroom and center bedroom, there is what remains of a floral pattern appliqué quilt made by 11-year-old Harriet Porcher Smith. Harriet was born in March 1844 at Mexico Plantation in Stephen’s Parish, now Berkeley County, South Carolina. Her parents were Robert Press Smith and Mary Mazyck Gaillard. Tragically, Harriet died on July 22, 1855 in Pineville, South Carolina.The pair of hand-wrought, tin sconces on the wall were also from Mexico Plantation while it was owned by Major Samuel Porcher.To the left are a flax spinning wheel, a wool spinning wheel and a yarn/thread winder. On a plantation of similar socio-economic status as Hanover, these types of items would have been used in a separate outbuilding. Enslaved African American domestic laborers would have most likely used these types of spinning wheels in order to make fabric for the everyday clothes for the St. Juliens and Ravenels, as well as the enslaved community.

The overall construction of Hanover House aided in its ultimate survival past the early-20th century when it no longer served as a family residence. The style is known as reverse shiplap. As you look on each board, either just above the ceiling construction or along the exterior walls, notice the narrow groove carved into each board. These same grooves exist on the outside of each exterior board, serving as a built-in gutter system for the house. This, along with the hearty qualities of Black cypress, helped the structure to survive despite complete abandonment.

Hanover House-Upstairs Hallway

All beds at Hanover House are what’s known as rope beds. These rope beds must be regularly tightened with a wooden tool, appropriately called a rope tightener. The enslaved domestic laborers would have been responsible for tightening the ropes and preparing the materials to use for the mattresses and pillows.The use of rope beds is where the expression, “Sleep tight; don’t let the bed bugs bite,” comes from. If the ropes are not “tight,” those in the bed will sink toward the floor. As for bed bugs, those in the beds would hope that no bugs remained in the bedding or pillow materials that might bite them in their sleep.The furnishing of this room was sponsored by Isabel Sims Willard and her mother, Mrs. Sims. The mother/daughter benefactors were members of the Spartanburg Committee of the National Society of Colonial Dames of America, whose dedicated and financial support made the restoration of Hanover House’s interior possible.

The Willard bedroom does not have a heat source as the added partition that would divide the 18th-century room blocked access to the fireplace. There are no known records as to who may have used this room during the Ravenel family’s ownership of Hanover House or if it was used only in the warm months when a fireplace was not needed.

Hanover House- Willard Bedroom

The interior wall on the right of the Clemson bedroom was added some time after the initial occupation of Paul de St. Julien. This partition may have been used to create a bedroom for girls and a bedroom for boys. Mary de St. Julien and her husband, Henry Ravenel, had 16 children though only six of her sons lived into adulthood. Her three oldest sons fought in the Revolutionary War alongside Francis Marion, also known as the Swamp Fox. None of her daughters lived into maturity.The blue and white coverlet is a reproduction, and its pattern, the “Whig Rose,” dates from 1720. Each golden tassel on the bottom of the coverlet was sewn by hand by Mrs. Arledge of Tryon, North Carolina. The bed hangings were copied from an antique French fabric, then dyed to match the blue of the coverlet. The linen cloth of this intricate weave was brought to the Colonies from the East Indies in the 17th century. The Hindu name for it was “sirsaka” and the French copied the weave in cotton, calling it plissé or ruffled.The half-tester bed is an exact reproduction of a bed in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and was made for Hanover House in the Clemson shops. The ladder-back chairs were also made by Clemson students.Framed on the wall above the mantel is an original Mark Catesby print of “Chimney Swift with Wood Lily.” This colored ornithological engraving is from a 1772 Dutch edition of Catesby’s work that was produced by Johann Michael Seligmann.

This room is called the Clemson bedroom because it serves as a testament to the historic preservation efforts of Clemson College, now Clemson University, and the faculty, staff and students at the time. All of the textiles in this room were produced by the Textile School of Clemson College around the early- to mid-20th century in traditionally 18th-century patterns and construction. They were given to Hanover House courtesy of Dean Gaston Gage and staff.

Hanover House-Clemson Bedroom

In the 18th century, all bricks would have been made on site. The necessary dry materials were brought in as the sandy soil of South Carolina’s Lowcountry would not have been conducive to making bricks.The process of making one kiln load of bricks could take up to two months. Water would have to be stomped into the dry materials, then the clay would be placed in molds to take its shape. The molded clay would be left out in the sun to dry so that all the moisture evaporated before being placed in the kiln.Originally, Paul de St. Julien envisioned a house where the basement, matching triple-flued chimneys and entire first floor would have been made exclusively from bricks. However, after needing four large kiln loads, the first floor had to be made with local Black cypress instead. Most of the cypress paneling is original thanks to the material’s resistance to water damage and insects. During the home’s reconstruction in the 1940s, some paneling from upstairs was removed and used downstairs.

The master bedroom is the only upstairs room retaining its original shape at Hanover House. In the 18th century, there would have been an identical room on the opposite side of the house. The walls of this room are left unpainted since, historically, all the walls upstairs were not painted. All the walls and ceilings upstairs were originally whitewashed.The upstairs rooms were used exclusively for the family’s personal use. The fireplace here provided needed heat, especially in the winter time, and has its own flue, independent of the fireplace downstairs. Looking at the bricks, one may notice a range of colors from deep purple to golden brown. This color variation is one of the surviving Gallic features of the home.

Hanover House-Master Bedroom

The hand-crewel curtains, embroidered by members of the Spartanburg Committee of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA). under the leadership of Susan Lewis Brown, now hang in the Parlor and Dining Room and are examples of 18th-cenh.ny design. The Spartanburg Committee and its members continue to support Hanover House today.The walls of the Parlor tell visitors that this is the most formal mom in the house with the decorative inset design, and the Spartanburg Committee, NSCDA staged this room to recreate 18th-century life of the de St. Julien and Ravenel families. Most items are period antiques or early reproductions. The built-in keystone cupboard, however, is original to Hanover's 18th-century construction.Hanover contains a collection of original and reproduction prints by noted naturalist Mark Catesby who explored South Carolina around the time Hanover was built. After Clemson College had saved Hanover from inundation, additional help was needed for Hanover's interior decorating. By 1953, Nettie Smith Owings, of Clemson, and the other members embarked on the formidable task of furnishing Hanover as historically accurate to the time (1700-1750, and families.The Spartanburg Committee of the NationaI Society of the Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA), photographed in the parlor, began fundraising in the 1950s by hosting silver exhibits, teas and oyster roasts. Those funds furnished Hanover House in period antiques, making it possible to serve as an historic house museum and architectural treasure of "nationaI importance."

The Parlor, as it is today, has undergone several changes. This room would have been the most formal room in the house and may have hosted special events like the December 1849 marriage supper of William Moultrie and Mary's first-cousin Damaris Elizabeth de St. Julien. As the family's wealth grew from the enslaved labor of Africans, modernization occurred throughout the house, including the additions of 19th-century mantels and a single front door that is 4-feet 2-inches wide.

Hanover House-Parlor

Dublin, Charlo, Harry, Northampton, Hanover, Juvenal, Virgil, Homer, Mahinjan, Peter, Billey, Prince, Saxegotha, Frederick and Casar were the men tasked with creating the rice fields from the swamplands, planting the crops and any other assigned need of the family. Lucy, Lise!, Dianna, Roxanna, Amelia, Amey, Silvia, Montenon, Colonbine, lssabel, Prisila and Philis werethe women who would have harvested the crops and performed other assigned duties. Folly, Judy, Susy (youngest child of Lucy), Mary, Aufie, Sipio, Amey, Houlihan Markis, Pompee, Celinda, Mobila, Sofie, Samson, Jupiter, Mathias, Cupit and Cyrus were all children whose genders were not always stated.The origins of these enslaved adults are unknown. Most likely, they would have come from Africa's west or "rice" coast due to their expertise with planting, harvesting and processing rice. Although their stories of resistance and sheer determination were unwritten, Hanover House today shares their history with those who visit, not just the stories of the de St. Julien and Ravenel families.The portrait to the left is of Susannah LeNoble Ravenel, mother of Henry Ravenel who married Mary de St. Julien in 1750. The companion portrait located in the Parlor, is of Rene Louis Ravenel, Susannah's husband.The original 181h-century portrait of Susannah was painted by Henrietta Johnston, one of the first professional female artists in the U.S. working in Charleston.The original portraits of Susannah and Rene were copied by Charleston artist Alicia Rhett, a noted 20th century artist and earlier an actress in "Gone with the Wind," for Hanover House.

The Hanover House Dining Room reflects two worlds that coexisted at Hanover House. With two exits -one into the Parlor and the other into the Keeping Room -each were used for very different purposes. The Parlor door was primarily used by family and guests, while the Keeping Room door was used by the enslaved African ­Americans who prepared the food and served the family's needs.The original kitchen was in the basement, and later an outside kitchen was built. The basement walls were eight feet high and two feet deep. Enslaved African-Americans would have prepared the food, brought it upstairs to the Keeping Room and served the de St. Juliens and later the Ravenel families in the Dining Room.At the time of Paul de St. Julien's death, there were 45 enslaved persons who labored at and maintained Hanover and its 720 acres. The only written records of these individuals are the will and the inventory of Paul's estate, listing the enslaved laborers by name, gender and age category: adult or child. With one exception, familial relationships are unknown.

Hanover House

Hanover House and the Colonial Dames

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources