Hanover House (Tour)

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1. The African American Experience at Hanover House

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 & testaments, inventories of estates, and census records.

2. Hanover House on the Move

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.

3. Hanover House and the Colonial Dames

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.

4. Hanover House Restoration

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.

5. Hanover House-Upstairs Hallway

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.

6. Hanover House- Willard Bedroom

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.

7. Hanover House-Clemson Bedroom

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.

8. Hanover House-Master Bedroom

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.

9. Hanover House-Parlor

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.

10. Hanover House-Dining Room

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.

This Tour is a Virtual Museum or Site Tour.

Hanover House

Created by Will Hiott on October 25th 2018, 8:02:45 pm.

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Description

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.

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Hanover House

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