Institution

The enslaved persons at Fort Hill were occasionally documented as parts of family units. One such family that was frequently mentioned in the personal correspondence of the Calhouns centered around a man named Sawney. Sawney's father, Adam, was the first enslaved person to be purchased by Patrick Calhoun, John C. Calhoun's father. It is unknown, because it was undocumented, who Sawney's mother was. Adam's fate is unknown, but Sawney would go on to be enslaved at Fort Hill until emancipation.Sawney married Matilda, called Tiller, who was also enslaved at Fort Hill. After John C. Calhoun's death, Sawney and Tiller were inherited by Floride Calhoun, and she sold Sawney and Tiller to A.P. Calhoun, in 1854. During his life, and in his personal correspondence, John C.Calhoun expressed a preference for Sawney. This preference allowed him the ability to cultivate a small portion of land for himself, producing cotton that he could sell and keep the profits from. It is likely that Sawney was a leader among the enslaved community at Fort Hill.Sawney and Tiller had at least two children: Sawney, Jr. and Issey. Sawney's children were sent from Fort Hill to A.P. Calhoun's plantation in Alabama; it is unknown if they ever returned. In 1842, Sawney Jr. ran from Fort Hill and was captured and imprisoned in Georgia. As punishment, Calhoun had Sawney, Jr. sent to Marengo County, Alabama. Around April 1st, 1843, Issey, who worked as the personal domestic worker to Cornelia Calhoun, was warming William Lowndes Calhoun's bed when the sheets caught fire. It is unknown whether the fire set in this room was intentional or not, but Floride Calhoun blamed Sawney Sr. for Issey's attempted arson. Issey was sent to Alabama, and it is unclear if she ever returned to Fort Hill.

Painting donated by the Littlejohn Family

More Info

This last bedroom likely belonged to the youngest Calhoun son, William Lowndes Calhoun (1829-1858). William was a graduate of South Carolina College, and he married Kate Putnam, the widow of his older brother, Dr. John C. Calhoun Jr. The chest, the poplar table, and the pair of glass vases in this room belonged to the Calhouns. The small, red Windsor-style side chair belonged to the Clemsons, as did the three small paintings in this room. 

Upstairs Fort Hill-William Lowndes Calhoun Bedroom

On this tour you will gain a fuller understanding of life at Fort Hill. This tour seeks to open the door to the 1800s, from the main house filled to the brim with original artifacts from the Calhoun and Clemson families, to the outbuildings and the domain of the enslaved where archaeology seeks to unlock the stories of the past as yet untold. Walk through the grounds of Clemson University as never before and learn the past behind its creation.

A Native American tribe called the Cherokee were the first to inhabit the land which would become the upstate of South Carolina. The Cherokee lived in settlements called towns and the Lower Cherokee Town of Esseneca was built on both sides of the Keowee River, today Lake Hartwell. After the Revolutionary Way, the former SC Cherokee lands were developed and the first Hopewell-Keowee Church opened in 1791. Rev. James McElhenney from John's Island served as the minister from 1803-1812 and lived in the four-room home called Clergy Hall. After McElhenney's death, Floride Bonneau Colhoun, the wealthy widow of John Ewing Colhoun, Sr., became the owner of the property where Clergy Hall sat. When Calhoun became the U.S. Vice President in 1825, Clergy Hall began its transformation from manse to fourteen-room dwelling house for a 19th century plantation. The Calhouns had ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. Their eldest surviving daughter, Anna Maria, married Thomas Green Clemson and Fort Hill would become their retirement home in 1872. Thanks to Anna Maria's will, Thomas Green Clemson was not only able to create Clemson Agricultural College but also to arrange for Fort Hill's continued preservation and maintenance. Because of his wishes, nearly all the furnishings in the home are either original to the house or to the families that lived there.

The entryway at Fort Hill was a part of the original four-room structure referred to as Clergy Hall. Built for Reverend McElhenney, Clergy Hall functioned as a manse or parsonage as the Reverend attended Hopewell-Keowee Church, today known as Old Stone Church. After McElhenney's death, Floride Bonneau Colhoun became the owner of the 600-acre property. When Floride's son-in-law, John C. Calhoun moved to Clergy Hall with his family, they began the process of expanding the four-room home to eventually include fourteen rooms in all. The arch at the end of this space marks the end of the original structure and the beginning of the Calhoun expansions. This room features a number of Calhoun-Clemson era pieces, including, two matching pier tables on either side and the mirrors above, and the marble top pier table and banjo clock in the lower hallway. The wallpaper throughout the hallway is a reproduction of the 19th century American wallpaper with French borders that hung here from 1825-1854.

Fort Hill-Front Hallway

The wall to your right as you enter the room was once the exterior wall of Clergy Hall, including the doorway, which would have led from Clergy Hall's indoor kitchen to the back porch which has become the Master Bedroom. This room has seen several enlargements and been used as both a sitting room and a bedroom. The portrait on the wall behind the bed is of Floride Colhoun Calhoun. Born on February 15th, 1792 at Rice Hope Plantation in Berkeley County, the Colhouns were a large, slave holding family. Her father, John Ewing Colhoun, Sr., was an attorney and politician. Her mother, Floride Bonneau Colhoun, was of French Huguenot descent, and the Bonneau family made its wealth from the labor and expertise of enslaved Africans on their rice plantations. It was this wealth which would support the families and political careers of both John Ewing Colhoun, Sr. and John C. Calhoun. Calhoun served in numerous political roles during his forty year career. He served as a U.S. Representative, Secretary of War, Interim Secretary of the Navy, Vice President under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Of the many enslaved African Americans who lived and labored at Fort Hill, relatively few names and stories have survived to today. Polydore and his wife Mennemin were said to have been first-generation enslaved persons from Africa. They were also said to have lived to be well over a hundred years old, and Mennemin was recorded by a reporter as being 108-years-old in 1849. Bina, Tom, and Billy were Polydore's children and many of this couple's descendants were moved between the Calhoun and Clemson extended families on their many plantations around South Carolina. When Calhoun became Secretary of War, Hector was the enslaved driver who drove the Calhoun carriage from Clergy Hall to Washington, D.C. During Calhoun's absence at Fort Hill, the day to day operations of the plantation were monitored by overseers, like Fredericks, Green Stevens, and Aaron Boggs.

The Calhoun Master Bedroom functioned both as a bedroom and as a sitting room. The massive Empire bed and Piedmont wardrobe were made by William Knauff. The chinz applique quilt on the bed was made by the Calhoun's youngest daughter, Martha Cornelia Calhoun. The portrait above the bed of Floride Calhoun was painted in 1840 by James Bogle. Also featured in the room are Mr. Calhoun's reclining chair and his traveling trunk bearing his initials. The piano in this room was one of the many owned by Floride Calhoun during her lifetime. Three of Mrs. Calhoun's pianos now reside at Fort Hill. The dress which stands in this room is an example of the fashion of the period made as a part of a Creative Inquiry course offered by Clemson Theater's department. There are two other such costumes in the home. 

Fort Hill-Master Bedroom

The nursery is directly adjacent to the Calhoun's master bedroom and is most closely associated with their youngest daughter, Martha Cornelia Calhoun (1824-1857). Cornelia, as she was called by her family, fell from a swing as a child and suffered a spinal cord injury which impeded her ability to walk. Her father spared no expense for the sake of her health, as Cornelia's health made her father "quite uneasy.". She suffered some form of hearing loss after her accident, and physicians sought ways to aid her. While in Philadelphia to consult with specialists, Cornelia learned to use a "silver trumpet" for hearing and the treatments she began receiving seemed to improve her health, at least psychologically. Her mother wrote to her eldest son's wife that, "Cornelia looks better than I ever saw her. She has had her hair cut short, and it has improved her appearance much, her form is decidedly much better. She hears through the silver trumpet some distance, and seems pleased with it" (Lander 87). Cornelia never married and remained her mother's constant companion until she died in her mid-thirties. She is buried at St. Paul's Episcopal Cemetery in Pendleton, S.C., and her mother was later buried next to her grave. Anna Maria named her last child after Cornelia and they called her Nina. The garden outside the back door is named Cornelia's Garden and was built for Cornelia to allow her an easier way to spend time outside.

This room beyond the Master Bedroom was enlarged more than once during the Calhoun lifetimes. It served as a children's room and later as the bedroom for the Calhouns' youngest daughter, Martha Cornelia Calhoun. When Cornelia was twelve-years-old, she suffered an accident while playing and faced mobility issues for the rest of her life. This became Cornelia's bedroom as it was easier for her to access rather than joining her siblings in their upstairs bedrooms. In this room, there are a variety of children's toys, like the wooden boat which is a wooden model of the U.S.S. Constitution owned by John Calhoun Clemson. This room also features a three-sided crib used by the Calhoun children and would have been pushed up against the side of the adult's bed. The half-size mahogany bed and dresser belonged to Floride Clemson and were given to her by her aunt Louisa Clemson Washington. The small round table beside the bed was by John C. Calhoun's bedside when he died in Washington, D.C. in 1850. The doll bed on the floor by the bed belonged to Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson and the doll dresser was her great-granddaughter's.

Fort Hill-Nursery and Cornelia's Bedroom

Thomas Green Clemson, when he left Fort Hill and its land to the state of South Carolina, ensured that Fort Hill would be preserved and operated by Clemson University. Many of the artifacts found throughout Fort Hill belonged to the Calhoun-Clemson family and many of the family portraits have returned. During the Calhoun family's residency, a portrait of Floride Bonneau Colhoun, John C. Calhoun's mother-in-law, was on display in this room. A copy is placed on the table to the left of the fireplace today. The Constitution Sideboard was presented to John C. Calhoun, likely after his wartime service as Interim Secretary of Navy and Secretary of War. After Thomas Green Clemson's death, his only grandchild, Floride Isabella Lee, chose this piece as her keepsake from Fort Hill's estate. She would later give it to a Calhoun cousin, whose widow put it up for auction after the Great Depression. The enslaved African Americans at Fort Hill were the driving force behind the day to day functions of the home and the plantation. Of the many enslaved African Americans who labored at Fort Hill, only a few names of the domestic enslaved were documented by the family in personal correspondence or on other documents, like wills or estate inventories. While these documents may be uncomfortable, as they list African Americans as "property," there is still much which can be learned about the lives of African Americans at Fort Hill. Nelly was an enslaved domestic worker at Fort Hill. She was purchased in 1848 by Floride Calhoun and worked as the enslaved cook. Nelly appeared in the personal correspondence of Floride Calhoun as her personal enslaved domestic laborer; in one letter, Floride Calhoun stated: "I trust her with the keys, as she has been accustomed to it all her life."

This state dining room, in conjunction with the parlor next door, acted as the formal entertaining space of the home. The skills of the enslaved domestic laborers made this room function smoothly as the Calhouns hosted numerous guests and prominent politicians. 

The banquet table in the center of the room seats twelve, and both the table and chairs were designed by Duncan Phyfe around 1820. The table comes to Fort Hill from the Calhouns' time living year-round in Washington, D.C. during John C. Calhoun's tenure as Secretary of War. The table is set with a replica of the Jackson-era White House china and features many original pieces of Calhoun silver. On the wall to the left of the entrance sits the Constitution Side Board. This piece is made from paneling of the Officer's Quarters of the U.S.S. Constitution, also called Old Iron Sides, which was built for the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812. 

This room also features a number of family portraits, two of John C. Calhoun on the walls to the left of the entrance, Floride Calhoun on the wall next to her daughter, Anna Maria's portrait. Above the hearth sits Floride Calhoun's wedding portrait, and finally, Thomas Green Clemson sits on the wall closest to the entrance. 

Fort Hill-State Dining Room

Thomas Green Clemson IV was born on July 1st, 1807 and was the son of Thomas Green Clemson III, a Quaker merchant, and Elizabeth Baker, the daughter of a prominent Episcopalian family. Little is known about Mr. Clemson's early education, but during his formative years he excelled in the sciences and mathematics. At the age of 16, Clemson applied to West Point and the then Secretary of War, John C. Calhoun, "received a letter of recommendation from the Pennsylvania delegation on Clemson's behalf" (1). At the time, the most advanced scientific education could only be obtained in Europe. In 1826, Mr. Clemson began a tour of Europe before enrolling at the Paris School of Mines and later studied at the Sorbonne Royal College of France in Paris. The young Clemson was nicknamed "the giraffe" by his French classmates because of his significant height, standing at six foot six inches tall. In the spring of 1838, Clemson met Anna Maria Calhoun in Washington, D.C. Anna Maria was twenty-one years old and Clemson was ten years her senior. After a courtship of only six months, the couple was married here in the parlor of Fort Hill. The newly weds spent the first two years of their marriage in Philadelphia before moving in with Anna's family at Fort Hill. Their first three children, a daughter, unnamed, who died in infancy, a son, John Calhoun Clemson, and another daughter, Floride Elizabeth, were all born at Fort Hill. Floride Elizabeth and her brother would survive into adulthood and their childhood portraits now hang in the parlor. In 1844, John C. Calhoun, who had recently been named Secretary of State for President John Tyler, aided in the appointment of his son-in-law as chargé d'affaires or diplomat to Belgium. This made Clemson the highest-ranking ambassador from the United States to Belgium. The Clemsons lived in Belgium from 1844 to 1852. King Leopold I of Belgium shared Mr. Clemson's interest in art, and later "awarded Clemson the Order of Leopold medal" which is on display at Fort Hill (1). Mr. Clemson also received the Leopold Chair in the parlor as a gift from the king during this time. After leaving Belgium, the Clemson family moved to a home in Maryland where they would live while Mr.Clemson served as the Superintendent of Agricultural Affairs from 1860-1861. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Clemson chose to resign his post and join the Confederacy with his son. Clemson was fifty-four years old when he enlisted in the Confederacy on May 7th, 1863 and was assigned to the Army of the Trans-Mississippi Department. On May 18th, 1866, after the conclusion of the Civil War, Mr.Clemson "requested and received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson" (1). He returned to Pendleton and from 1868 to 1871 acted on behalf of his mother-in-law's estate. He signed freedmen contracts with freedmen and women who were employed at Fort Hill. These contracts, "which spelled out some 10 to 15 articles of agreement, were similar to other labor contracts of the era" (1). In the summer of 1871, the Clemson family suffered tremendous tragedy. Their daughter, Floride Clemson Lee, died on July 23rd, 1871, at twenty-eight years old of consumption. She left behind a one-year-old daughter, Floride Isabella Lee, the Clemson's only grandchild. On August 10th, 1871, John Calhoun Clemson was killed in train wreck in Oconee, South Carolina, only seventeen days after his sister's death. Having lost their only two surviving children, Anna Maria and Thomas Green Clemson retired to Fort Hill in 1872. Three years later, Anna Maria died of a heart attack at fifty-eight. Her will, while not specifically mentioning a desire to create a college out of Fort Hill's land, previous communications between the couple indicated their desire that a college would be built on the land she inherited from her family. In the last thirteen years of Mr. Clemson's life, he "set out to establish, in the drafts of his will, the type of scientific institution" that he desired to be built out of his wife's land. His last will and testament ordered that his wife's land and a sum of $80,000 dollars be given to the state of South Carolina in the interest of constructing an agricultural college in the Upstate.

The parlor at Fort Hill was built in 1827 and was the most expensive addition to the house. As a teenager, A.P. Calhoun inscribed in the plaster of the wall by the door, "1827, A.P. Calhoun." This room, along with the State Dining Room next door, was a part of the formal entertaining space of Fort Hill. On November 13th, 1838, Anna Maria Calhoun married Thomas Green Clemson in the parlor. The parlor hosts a variety of important Calhoun-Clemson artifacts including, Floride Calhoun's Gunther and Norwood pianoforte along the left wall. The piano to the right of the entrance was her last piano and is the only piano in the home that is still playable. Thomas G. Clemson was also musically inclined, playing both the violin and the piano during his lifetime, as well as composing eight songs during the Civil War. Not only was he a talented musician, but Mr. Clemson was also a gifted painter and a number of his paintings are on display in this room. The portraits of the Clemson children rest on the west wall, Floride Elizabeth Clemson and John Calhoun Clemson, opposite a large portrait of their mother Anna Maria. The wallpaper in this room is an exact replica of the wallpaper that would have been on display during the families' residencies. The pattern of the wallpaper reflects two important 19th-century cash crops, the cotton blossom and tobacco leaves. The simple wooden, Windsor chair in front of the fireplace is said to have been one of George Washington's camp chairs during the Revolutionary War and the sofa along the right wall came to Fort Hill from Washington's estate, Mt. Vernon. Beside the Windsor chair, sits a burgundy chair and accompanying ankle-rest. This chair was a gift to Thomas Green Clemson from King Leopold I of Belgium. On the armrests of the chair, you can see the likeness of King Leopold I carved into the wood.

Fort Hill-Parlor

Andrew Pickens Calhoun was born on October 15th, 1811, and was the eldest child of John C. and Floride Calhoun. He was named for Revolutionary War hero General Andrew Pickens, his maternal uncle by marriage. A.P.attended Yale University and South Carolina College. He married twice: first, his cousin, Eugenia Chappell, daughter of Joe Chappell and Sophia Maria Green Chappell; after Eugenia's death, Andrew married Margaret Green. Margaret and A.P. had eight children together and after A.P.'s death in 1865, Margaret and the children continued to live at Fort Hill for a short time. After his marriage to Margaret in 1836, A.P. began purchasing land in Marengo County, Alabama. Personal correspondence indicates that the land would become a cotton plantation that would be managed by A.P. The enslaved persons and equipment needed for the operations of the plantation would be provided by his father, John C. Calhoun. This prompted what would become an ongoing exchange of enslaved persons between Fort Hill and the Alabama Plantation. In Alabama, the enslaved African Americans were expected to clear the land and plant and harvest the cotton purchased by A.P. with money given to him by his new brother-in-law, Thomas Green Clemson. He continued to increase his land in Alabama by expanding his Tulip Hill plantation to include the neighboring Cuba plantation. Even after moving back to Fort Hill with his family in 1854, he continued to expand his property by purchasing land from neighbors. The labor of the plantation was performed by the enslaved persons A.P. was continuously provided from the enslaved populations at Fort Hill and John C. Calhoun's goldmine in Dahlonega, G.A. In 1840, there were eighty-six enslaved persons recorded as being on the plantation at Marengo County, and by 1850 that population had grown to 116. After owning Tulip Hill plantation for twenty years, A.P. sold the land and the enslaved population to Goetlib Breightling. On March 19th, 1865, Floride Clemson wrote in her diary that her uncle, A.P., had passed from congestion of the heart that past Thursday. The enslaved community at Fort Hill were listed as "property" on the estate inventory performed after his death. It listed a total of 139 enslaved persons as living at Fort Hill and provided some details including their names and ages. 127 of those enslaved at Fort Hill at this time were listed as field laborers and twelve were classified as enslaved domestic workers or skilled laborers. In 1865, Nicholas was the Blacksmith, Ted was the carpenter, Isaac was the gardener, Christy was the cook, Billy was the miller, and Priest was the coachman. Documents such as wills and estate inventories may be hard to view as they list African Americans as property, but they can offer insight into the lives of those who were enslaved and therefore blocked from being able to tell their story for themselves. By September of 1865, after the end of the Civil War, there were fifteen freed persons of color at Fort Hill; their names were not recorded. The earliest known Freedman's contract was signed between Harriet, Jim, Peter, Abb, and A.P.'s son, John C. Calhoun, II. Starting in 1867, freed persons of color, including children, signed contracts with Thomas Clemson.

The southeast bedroom, also referred to as A.P. Calhoun's bedroom, includes several paintings from Thomas Green Clemson's vast art collection. Paintings include peasant scenes and a likeness of Queen Victoria, King Leopold I's niece. King Leopold specifically granted permission to Clemson to commission artists to reproduce some of the paintings from the king's private art collection, a testament to Clemson's important role in Belgium. 

This room is mostly associated with the Calhoun's eldest son, Andrew Pickens Calhoun (1811-1865). A.P. married his second wife, Margaret Green on May 5th, 1836, and they had seven children together. In 1854, A.P. purchased fifty enslaved African Americans from his mother, Floride Calhoun, along with Fort Hill plantation. At the time of his death in 1865, there were 139 enslaved African Americans at Fort Hill.

Upstairs Fort Hill- Andrew Pickens Calhoun Bedroom

Enslaved African Americans who worked as domestic laborers were expected to maintain the dressing rooms by emptying the chamber pots, bringing hot water into the house, removing waste water and providing for any other needs of the Calhouns or Clemsons. African Americans across the country resisted enslavement and Fort Hill was no different. Examples of this resistance can be found by analyzing and interpreting the personal correspondence between members of the family. Calhoun, while in Washington, D.C., asked his brothers-in-law to assist his wife in bringing the enslaved community into submission. In the summer of 1831, Aleck, was described as having taken to "the woods" after, according to Calhoun, Aleck "offended" Mrs. Calhoun and "she threatened him, with a severe whipping." Aleck was apprehended in Abbeville. In accordance with Mr. Calhoun's instructions, Aleck was jailed "for one week. . .fed on bread and water" and given "thirty lashed well laid on" in order to "prevent a repetition." Sawney Jr. was sent to Marengo County, to A.P. Calhoun's Tulip Hill Plantation, after setting fire to the white overseer's tent and was accused of attempted murder. Afterwards, Issey, who was an enslaved domestic worker primarily charged with the care of Cornelia Calhoun, set the bedding on fire in William Lowndes Calhoun's room. The fire was extinguished and it is unclear whether or not it was set intentionally, Issey was punished by being sent to the Alabama plantation. Cornelia was distressed by Issey's removal from the plantation and her father requested that A.P. send Issey back to Fort Hill, it is unknown if she ever returned.

Fort Hill had three dressing rooms once the expansions to the home were completed in the 1830s. The family primarily used these dressing rooms for grooming, but they also served as storage areas because of the lack of closet space in the house. This dressing room was the first to be added by the Calhouns in 1825. The English ironstone foot tub with lotus petal design belonged to Floride Calhoun. The Sheraton-style washstand belonged to the Clemsons, and now holds a bowl and pitcher. The wooden towel rack is in a "hairpin" design and would have been used to hang towels. The galvanized metal tub with a sitting shelf was the Calhouns' sitz tub.

Upstairs Fort Hill-Dressing Room (Guest Suite)

Patrick Calhoun:Patrick graduated from West Point, serving as a major in the U.S. Army. He was also the brother that remained the closest to the Clemsons, as Anna documented in a letter to her daughter, Floride, right before her brother's death. Patrick never married, and he died from a lingering illness on June 1st, 1858. He was buried at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pendleton, S.C. Marie Elizabeth Venning:On December 29th, 1842, Marie Elizabeth Venning was born at Fort Hill just a few hours before Floride Elizabeth Clemson. Sometime before 1854, Marie was sent from Fort Hill by Floride Calhoun to receive "training" as a personal enslaved domestic worker. She was said to have learned French and German. When Maria returned to Floride Calhoun at her home in Pendleton, MiCasa, she became Floride Clemson's primary attendant after a medical procedure. When Floride Clemson married Gideon Lee, Marie moved with the couple of Carmel, NY as a lady's maid and seamstress. According to Floride Clemson's great-granddaughter's 1938 letter, Marie was a highly skilled seamstress. After the the birth of Floride Isabella Lee, the Lees only child, on May 15th, 1870; Marie served as Isabella's nurse. When Floride Clemson Lee passed away on July 23rd, 1871, Marie became a surrogate mother to her one year old daughter. Marie left Carmel around 1879 and began working for the Rhett Family. She likely accompanied the Rhett family from Charleston to Mississippi and lastly Mobile, AL. Marie lived in Mobile until her death on March 18, 1915 and is buried in Magnolia Cemetery.

The northeast corner bedroom was potentially the bedroom of the Calhoun's second eldest son, Patrick Calhoun, named after his paternal grandfather. This room features a bright kimono wallpaper that has been reproduced from the original. There is an oil painting hanging above the fireplace that is a Madonna and Child painted by Thomas Green Clemson. He used his wife, Anna Maria, and his youngest daughter, Nina, as the models for the mother and child. The Clemsons purchased the mahogany sleigh bed while they lived in Europe. A unique, quilted coverlet with an appliqued floral decoration covers the bed. The oval French sewing cabinet is inlaid with mother-of-pearl, and the chest-on-chest would have been used as a linen press.

Upstairs Fort Hill-Patrick Calhoun Bedroom

Nelly and Andy:Although there are no known photographs of Nelly or her son Andy, their names appear in the personal correspondence of the Calhoun and Clemson families. Nelly passed when Andy was very young, in childbirth when he was only two years old. He was her only child known to have survived. After his mother's death, Floride Calhoun had him sent to another local home where Andy could be trained to be an enslaved domestic worker. In June 1859, Andy developed a high fever. Floride Calhoun hired a nurse to care for him, and she sent Andy special food to eat. Floride visited him throughout his sickness and he finally recovered on July 4th. Afterwards, Andy came to live at MiCasa. In the spring of 1860, Andy went with Floride and her Clemson grandchildren to Bladensburg, MD, per Anna Clemson's request. When Floride Calhoun drafted her will in 1863, Andy, who was "about nine years old" at the time, was willed to Floride Clemson. On November 1st, 1864, all enslaved persons living in Maryland were freed. On December 11th, Floride Clemson recorded in her diary that, after freedom, Andy would go to Dr. Septimus J. Cook. By the 1870 Census, Andy was no longer living with the Cooks. "That 'Blessed' Sewing Machine":"So you've bought a machine! I'm so glad," says a friend"Now, for help with my work, upon you, I'll depend,It will get through the sewing, I'll warrant my dear,In less than a week, that once took you a year.Here, I brought some things to run through, for I know,That with those blessed comforts, its nothing to sew.I left all for you to arrange and to baste,It's a trifle to do. Good bye. Pray make haste!"A "trifle" and "nothing," I wish that was true,For she will blame if I can't, never thank if I do;--Showing plainly by looks, if she don't say quite,That she's not even please, and there's none of it right!People think my machine an automaton, orThat I'm one myself, else they'd spare me, I'm sure:--Just winding it up will not make the thing go,And an imp--not an angel--oft guides it, I know.Then I'm nervous to-day, so I'm sure it won't run,And I've got something else that I want to get done.Ah, well, let me set it in order, and seeIf it won't, for this once have some pity on me!Snap! Snap! oh, the tension's too tight, I suppose.Crash! Crash! It's too loose, by the loops that it throws.And this cloth is so stiff that the thread cuts and wears,--But then, when its flimsy, it pulls through and tears.This needle is bent, so the seam wont run straight,And I've turned up the point of that one on the plate.This must be too large--but that's surely too small--What can be the matter? It wont work at all!The shuttle is empty, perhaps. No, it's not!The thread may be caught, or else come to a knot.That wiry glace's the very worst kind,--Tis half off the spool, around everything twined.That's fixed. Now, what breaks it? I cannot conceive!The loop click is right, the hook's smooth, I believe.But no one could sew with such horrible thread:And as to this clatter, tis splitting my head!"Tis shrieking for oil,--I must take off the plate,-Does working work for everyone up to this state?But where is the screw driver? Not vanished, I pray,With the gauge and the wrench! Something goes every dayThis stitch is too short, for tis cutting the stuff;Too long now,--tis never, alas, just enough!I feel all the stitches it makes--in my back,--And it aches, 'till I'm sure when I straighten 'twill crackThis seam is all drawn,--that stretches,--Oh me!If this is a blessing what can a curse be?The band is too loose, for 'tis slipping around,Must, every two inches,-- new troubles be found?I'm bothered to death with this troublesome work!There, I've broken the needle, by giving that jerk!But I'm sure it is more than Job's temper could stand,And I'd got through much more, if I'd done it by hand.The basting, adjusting, and fixing, consume,What time is not wasted in fretting, and fume.To say that I hate this machine, is too mild;What's that? I must stop for its driving me wild.

This bedroom is believed to have been a part of the original 1803 cottage structure built for Reverend McElhenny. The room likely belonged to the Calhouns' third son, John Caldwell Jr. (1823-1855). This room contains many paintings of pastoral scenes that were a part of Clemson's art collection. After John C. Calhoun's death on March 31st, 1850, Floride moved to this bedroom. The walnut bonnet chest belonged to Thomas Green Clemson. The maple acorn bed was another Calhoun family piece. The sewing machine belonged to Anna Maria Clemson. Her daughter, Floride Clemson, wrote a poem entitled "That 'Blessed' Sewing Machine" that referred to this machine.

Upstairs Fort Hill-John C. Calhoun Jr. Bedroom

Before Floride and her children began to call Fort Hill their permanent home, around 1831, this room was used solely as extra storage space for the large travel cases which belonged to the Calhoun family. The luggage would have needed to carry no less than a six-month supply of books, clothes, and other necessities for the family's numerous trips to Washington, D.C. and to Bath plantation in Abbeville, S.C. Even after the family officially relocated to Fort Hill, this room would have stored some of this luggage and, later, some of the luggage which belonged to the Clemson family. Aside from storage space, this room also served as a dressing room for grooming. Enslaved domestic workers would have pumped the water for the family members' baths at the Spring House outside the home, carried the water to be heated over a fire, hauled the water up a narrow set of stairs at the back of the home, assisted with the bathing as needed, before finally carrying the waste water back outside to be dumped. The window in the interior wall of the dressing room is a unique feature. This dressing room was not an original part of the home, and the wall on the left was the original exterior wall. When the family found themselves in need of more space and more storage room, this dressing room was constructed and the exterior window became an interesting interior feature of the home.

This second dressing room served primarily as grooming space for the family but also provided additional storage space for the family's belongings since the home has very little closet space. Seen in this room, and pictured here, are one of Thomas Green Clemson's travel trunks, bearing his initials on the side, a Black mahogany medicine chest on the shelf that likely belonged to Dr. John C. Calhoun Jr., as well as a unique type of tub which belonged to the Clemsons. Called a hat tub, this artifact would have been used almost like a modern-shower. The person being bathed would stand in the middle of the "hat" while an enslaved domestic laborer poured warm water over the bathing person's head, and excess water would be caught by the "brim." 

Upstairs Fort Hill-Second Dressing Room

Anna Maria Calhoun ClemsonEarly Life and Education:Anna Maria Calhoun was born on February 13th, 1817 at Bath Plantation in the Abbeville District. She was the fourth child, and third daughter, born to John C. and Floride Calhoun. Anna Maria and her sister Martha Cornelia were the only Calhoun daughters to survive to adulthood, and Anna was the only daughter to marry. She attended the female academy in Edgefield, S.C. before enrolling at the South Carolina Female Collegiate Institute in Barhamville, near Columbia. At this women's college founded by Dr. Elias Marks and his wife Jane Barham Marks, the course of study was rigorous. Two of her classmates were Ann Pamela Cunningham, the founder of the Mt. Vernon Ladies Society, and Martha Bullock, the mother of future President Theodore Roosevelt. Anna Maria and her father were very similar in many ways. In one letter to Anna Maria, Calhoun wrote:My dear Anna, Were it not for your letters, there are a thousand incidents that are daily occurring, where everyincident even the smallest, is interesting to me, of which I should remain ignorant. Your Mother and Brother writeme on grave subject of business, or what relates to the welfare of the family; but you fill up the interval with thoselittle, but to me interesting details, which is so agreeable to an absent father to know. Were it not for you, I wouldnot have heard a word about the Humming bird, their familiarity, the vines, their blooms, the freshness of thespring, the green yard, the children’s garden, and finally Patrick’s mechanical genius &amp; his bateaux, every item ofwhich excited agreeable associations, but accompanied with the painful recollection of my long absence, fromthose so dear to me. (1)Calhoun engaged with Anna Maria on an intellectual level and encouraged her study of, though not participation in, the politics of her time. In 1834, Anna Maria began working as her father's copyist, living with him in Washington, D.C. at times. Marriage and Family:In the spring of 1838, Anna was living in D.C. with her father at the same time Thomas Green Clemson was visiting on business. They met through a mutual friend and began a six-month long courtship which culminated in their wedding on November 13th, 1838 in the parlor at Fort Hill. The newlyweds lived in Philadelphia with Mr. Clemson's family before returning to Fort Hill in 1840. Their first three children were born at Fort Hill. An infant daughter, whose name has not been discovered, died three weeks after her birth in 1839 from a fever epidemic which claimed the lives of several neighbors and enslaved African Americans at Fort Hill. On July 17th, 1841, Anna Maria gave birth to her only son whom they called Calhoun to distinguish him from the other Johns in their family. December 29th, 1842, saw the birth of their second daughter named for her two grandmothers, Floride Elizabeth. Two enslaved African American women, mother and daughter, Daphne and Susan, aided the Clemsons in caring for the children while they lived at Fort Hill. Susan was later given to the Clemsons to serve as a full-time babysitter for their children. Belgium and Maryland:In 1844, John C. Calhoun became the Secretary of State under President John Tyler. When a diplomatic post to Belgium came open, Calhoun submitted Thomas Green Clemson for the position. Clemson happily accepted and became the charge d' affaires to Belgium in the Court of King Leopold I. The Clemsons lived in Belgium for six years and the formal portraits of Anna, Calhoun, and Floride which are on display in the parlor at Fort Hill were painted during their time in Europe. After the Clemson family returned to the United States, they moved to Maryland in the years before the outbreak of the Civil War. Anna managed The Home in Maryland along with its small farm. On October 3rd, 1855, Anna Maria gave birth to her fourth child, Cornelia, or Nina as they called her. Nina died of scarlet fever in 1858 at only three years old. A death mask was made of Nina and American sculptor, Hiram Powers, used the mask to make a marble bust of the child. The bust is still on display in the parlor at Fort Hill today. Civil War, Reconstruction, Loss and Retirement:At the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Thomas Green Clemson and his son Calhoun joined the Confederacy. Calhoun was captured on September 9th, 1863 in Mississippi and imprisoned for eighteen months. Anna campaigned for permission to visit her son at the federal prison on Johnson Island in Lake Erie. She was successful in her endeavor and visited Calhoun behind enemy lines. At the war's conclusion the Clemson family reunited in Pendleton, S.C. at Floride Calhoun's home, MiCasa. On August 1st, 1869, Floride Elizabeth married Gideon Lee at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pendleton. The couple would go on to settle in Carmel, New York and the Clemsons' only grandchild, Floride Isabella Lee, was born on May 15th, 1870. On July 23rd, 1871, Floride Clemson Lee died from a lingering illness in her home in New York. Her brother, John Calhoun Clemson, would die tragically in a train accident in Oconee, S.C. eighteen days later. In the summer of 1871, Anna wrote her will that stated everything she was set to inherit from her mother, her brother Patrick and her sister Cornelia would pass to her husband provided he died with a will. Without his will, everything Anna inherited would pass to her granddaughter. In January 1872, the Clemsons retired to Fort Hill where they would live together for only three short years. On September 22nd, 1875, Anna Maria Calhoun Clemson died from a sudden heart attack. Anna’s wish for her husband to preserve her parent’s home, Fort Hill, and to use the estate’s land, her land, for a state agricultural college would come to fruition.

This room served as Anna Calhoun Clemson's childhood bedroom and was later used by the Clemsons as a young married couple from 1840 to 1843. During this time, John C. Calhoun fostered Thomas Green Clemson's interest in scientific agriculture. The Clemson's first three children were born at Fort Hill and their two surviving children later moved with their parents to Cane Break plantation in Saluda, S.C. Clemson purchased Cane Break plantation and thirty enslaved African-Americans from his wife's uncle in January 1844. The Clemsons would later travel to Europe for Mr. Clemson's appointment in Belgium where they would live for six years. Mr. and Mrs. Clemson would retire to Fort Hill after the loss of their two children in the summer of 1872, John Calhoun Clemson and Floride Clemson Lee, whose photographs are on display by the bureau. Over the mantel hangs a self-portrait of Thomas Green Clemson. He was approximately six foot six inches tall, which prompted William Knauff to build a custom seven-foot-long bed that sits in this room. The dresser was also made by Knauff. Next to the bed is Anna's Swiss oak sewing table, and the red and white European chairs on either side of the bed were highly prized by Mr. Clemson.

Upstairs Fort Hill-Anna Calhoun Childhood Bedroom/Clemson Bedroom

Susan Clemson Richardson:Susan was born around 1828; after Thomas Green Clemson's marriage to Anna Maria Calhoun in 1838, Susan was given to Anna Clemson by her father to serve as Anna's personal enslaved domestic worker. Daphne, Susan's mother served as wet nurse to the Clemson children. It is unknown if Bill Laurence, Susan's father, was enslaved at Fort Hill, but his surname implies that he was likely enslaved by the neighboring Lawrence Family. When the Clemsons moved to Cane Break plantation in Saluda in January 1844, Susan, Daphne, Bill Laurence, and her brother Benjamin were given to the Clemsons by John C. Calhoun. Susan, like her parents and brother, were sold to Alfred Long Dearing in December 1850. At some point, Susan began working for the Edwards family and it is unknown if this occurred prior to emancipation. Around 1850, Susan married Bill Richardson who was enslaved on a neighboring Edgefield District plantation. They had six to seven children, at least two of whom were sons. One son was named Tucker, who died in April 1910, and the other son was a contractor in Aiken who built a home for his mother in Aiken in 1904. Susan lived at this home on her son's property until her death sometime after April 1910. She was buried in Aiken. A picture of Susan Clemson Richardson was donated to Clemson University by Myrtle Herlong in 1950's. Myrtle maternal grandparents were the Edwards family in Saluda who employed Susan for some time. She reported that Susan is listed in the records of the Red Bank Baptist Church which appears to be the church of the Edwards family.

The fourth bedroom, which was originally a dressing room, was likely the bedroom of the fourth son, James Edward Calhoun (1826-1861). Named after James Edward Colhoun, James studied law and eventually went to California to seek a fortune. He died tragically, without children. This is the only bedroom in the home that does not have a fireplace. In addition to being a bedroom, it also served as an overflow room for when the house was full of guests. The single Jenny Lind spool bed belonged to the Clemsons. The small liquor chest atop Clemson's overseas chest belonged to General Andrew Pickens and was used for traveling. 

Upstairs Fort Hill-James Edward Calhoun Bedroom

The enslaved persons at Fort Hill were occasionally documented as parts of family units. One such family that was frequently mentioned in the personal correspondence of the Calhouns centered around a man named Sawney. Sawney's father, Adam, was the first enslaved person to be purchased by Patrick Calhoun, John C. Calhoun's father. It is unknown, because it was undocumented, who Sawney's mother was. Adam's fate is unknown, but Sawney would go on to be enslaved at Fort Hill until emancipation. Sawney married Matilda, called Tiller, who was also enslaved at Fort Hill. After John C. Calhoun's death, Sawney and Tiller were inherited by Floride Calhoun, and she sold Sawney and Tiller to A.P. Calhoun, in 1854. During his life, and in his personal correspondence, John C.Calhoun expressed a preference for Sawney. This preference allowed him the ability to cultivate a small portion of land for himself, producing cotton that he could sell and keep the profits from. It is likely that Sawney was a leader among the enslaved community at Fort Hill. Sawney and Tiller had at least two children: Sawney, Jr. and Issey. Sawney's children were sent from Fort Hill to A.P. Calhoun's plantation in Alabama; it is unknown if they ever returned. In 1842, Sawney Jr. ran from Fort Hill and was captured and imprisoned in Georgia. As punishment, Calhoun had Sawney, Jr. sent to Marengo County, Alabama. Around April 1st, 1843, Issey, who worked as the personal domestic worker to Cornelia Calhoun, was warming William Lowndes Calhoun's bed when the sheets caught fire. It is unknown whether the fire set in this room was intentional or not, but Floride Calhoun blamed Sawney Sr. for Issey's attempted arson. Issey was sent to Alabama, and it is unclear if she ever returned to Fort Hill.

The McElhenny's would have used the fireplace in this room as the primary cooking fireplace for the home, but the Calhouns' chose to move their kitchen to a separate building. This was often done during the time to protect from the spread of potential fires, as well as to stem some of the heat that would have been pouring from the kitchen in the hot summer months. In the display cases in this room are a variety of small artifacts from the Calhoun and Clemson families. These objects can reveal a great deal about the lives of the people who lived at Fort Hill, things like: documents detailing Calhoun's commission as Secretary of War, buttons from his travel cloak, and even a gift from Japan. In another case you will see pieces connected to the women of the Calhoun and Clemson families: earrings and a necklace, a lace bobbin, an ivory parasol handle, and even a piece of mourning jewelry. Mourning jewelry is a tradition common during the Victorian era and the woven bracelet inside the second case is made of John C. Calhoun's hair, and even contains a lock of his hair in the face of the bracelet. This would have been worn by one of the Calhoun women who mourned the loss of John C. Calhoun after his death in 1850.

The oldest part of Fort Hill was constructed around 1803 to serve as a manse or parsonage for a nearby church, Hopewell-Keowee Presbyterian, today called Old Stone Presbyterian Church. Reverend James McElhenny served as a part-time pastor of the church and built Clergy Hall. In 1810, twenty-five enslaved persons were living with Reverend McElhenny, his wife Susannah Wilkinson, and their family. This room served as the kitchen for Clergy Hall and the large fireplace along one wall was the primary cooking fireplace. During the Calhouns' time, this room became the family dining room and today it is Fort Hill's Gift Shop and small item display room.

Fort Hill-Clergy Hall Kitchen and Calhoun Family Dining Room

This simple structure oversaw life at Fort Hill plantation. Its wooden board construction were likely formed and joined by the skilled hands of enslaved laborers, like the other structures at Fort Hill. The office is the only original outbuilding to have survived to today as its protection was provided for Thomas Green Clemson's will. When Calhoun was at Fort Hill, the business of managing the plantation, and the enslaved population which labored on it, would have been conducted in this office. In the summer of 1831, while Calhoun served as Andrew Jackson's Vice President, John C. Calhoun wrote the Fort Hill Address, which finalized his doctrine of nullification. On display in this room, alongside the host of Calhoun artifacts listed above, is an eighteen volume Encyclopedia Britannica which was part of Fort Hill's library. The book press with wheel beside the fireplace also belonged to Calhoun. In April 1881, Scribner’s Magazine published an article entitled, “The Calhoun Summer Home.” It included an engraving of the inside of this Study. At this time, Thomas Clemson, the widower of Anna Calhoun Clemson, lived at Fort Hill as a hermit. Much of what is shown in this illustration remains within the Study today. Clemson composed his will, sealing his decisions for Fort Hill plantation to be the site for Clemson University and its dwelling house as an historic house museum with original “vestures.”

The office, called Mr. Calhoun's Library by Mr. Clemson, is where John C. Calhoun composed many orations and would have conducted the business of the plantation. His "Fort Hill Address" was written here on July 26th, 1831. Many of the artifacts on exhibit in this room are representative of the many roles John C. Calhoun fulfilled as a politician. The plantation-style desk to the left was used by Mr. Calhoun in this office. The kneehole desk in the back-right corner was used in his law office in Abbeville, S.C. The desk in the center of the room belonged to Mr. Calhoun when he served in the U.S. House of Representatives, before and during the War of 1812.  The desk to the right of the fireplace is hand carved Swiss oak. Calhoun received it as a gift from the citizens of South Carolina during his first time as Vice President. The chair next to this desk was Mr. Calhoun's Senate chair.

Fort Hill-Plantation Office/Library

Outdoor kitchens such as this were intended to protect the house in case of fire and to keep some of the heat out of the home. They were often referred to as "summer kitchens." The original kitchen at Fort Hill was removed due to deterioration around 1900. This reconstruction kitchen was built in 1944 using materials from a Pinckney plantation in Pendleton called "Atlamont II." In order to reconstruct the kitchen as accurately as possible, an oral history was collected from Clemson's housekeeper, Jane Prince. Most of the cooking vessels are original pieces to the Calhouns or the Clemsons. Also found in Fort Hill's reconstruction kitchen are a host of textile tools and equipment. Yarn winders, spinning wheels, and looms would have been housed in the nearby spin house and weave room buildings. The large wash pots would have been used inside and outside of a separate laundry building. None of these outbuildings still stand, but archaeology can reveal some of the mysteries lost to time. The plantation kitchen would have been the domain of the enslaved cooks and other enslaved domestic laborers. Very few names of the enslaved were ever recorded by the family in personal correspondence, but much can still be learned by examining correspondence, wills and estate inventories. People like Nelly, who was the enslaved cook at Fort Hill in 1848, or Christy who became the cook in 1854, were responsible for all the cooking at Fort Hill, for the family and all of their guests. Other enslaved persons worked as skilled laborers, such as carpenters, Blacksmiths, and seamstresses. The corner cupboard in the kitchen was made by an enslaved carpenter, possibly Ted Calhoun who was a carpenter at Fort Hill in 1865. Carpentry tools in the kitchen are similar to those used by enslaved carpenters. In 1865, there was an enslaved Blacksmith at Fort Hill named Nicholas. There are Blacksmithing tools in the kitchen that are similar to what might have been used by Nicholas and other enslaved skilled laborers like him. Enslaved African Americans were responsible for the operations of the many outbuildings which once stood at Fort Hill. Archaeology is now our best means of accessing the past and the lives of those who lived and labored at Fort Hill.

The Fort Hill plantation kitchen, built after 1825, was reconstructed in 1944. The original indoor kitchen was converted into a family dining room when the detached kitchen was constructed. Reconstruction efforts used materials from a 19th-century plantation kitchen owned by the Pinckney family in Pendleton. Enslaved African-Americans were primarily responsible for the cooking and other kitchen duties. Items in the kitchen used for cooking are original to Fort Hill. The original textile equipment, yarn winders, spinning wheels, and looms would have been used in the adjacent spin house and weave room buildings, and the large wash pots would have been used both inside and outside of a separate laundry building. Buildings such as these as well as the original house and field slave quarters, no longer exist; however, stone foundations of early campus buildings were made from recycled fieldstones from the old enslaved quarters. 

Fort Hill-Kitchen

Nelly was not born at Fort Hill; she was purchased in 1848 by John C. Calhoun’s wife, Floride. Around 1854, Nelly gave birth to her son Andy, and they both appeared often in the personal correspondence of both the Calhoun and Clemson families. Nelly became the personal enslaved domestic worker to Floride Calhoun, and she also served as the cook at Fort Hill. In one letter written by Floride Calhoun, she stated: “I trust her with the keys, as she has been accustomed to it all her life.”  In 1854, when A.P. Calhoun and his wife, Margaret, moved their family to Fort Hill from the plantation in Alabama, Nelly was in Florida with Kate Putnam Calhoun, Floride’s daughter-in-law. Nelly served as a wet nurse for Kate Putnam’s two infants.  Once A.P. and his family moved to Fort Hill from Alabama, Floride moved to her new home, MiCasa, in Pendleton, S.C. During this time of transition, Christy became the enslaved cook at Fort Hill through emancipation in the summer of 1865, and she took residence in the Cook’s Room. She had use of Nelly’s “feather bed, bedstead, table, and two chairs.” When Nelly returned to South Carolina from Florida, she was forbidden by Margaret Calhoun to return to Fort Hill, even to pick up her belongings. Fluoride Calhoun had to arrange for Nelly’s furniture and other items to be moved to MiCasa.

Behind the main dwelling house, there stood a row of outbuildings, built and used by enslaved African Americans, devoted to fulfilling the various needs of a mostly self-sustaining plantation. The Kitchen, Cook’s Room, Laundry, and Smoke House were but a few of these structures now lost. The exterior Kitchen is the only rebuilt outbuilding.  

The Cook’s Room would have been the domestic quarters belonging to the enslaved cook at Fort Hill. Nelly and Christy were two of the enslaved cooks whose names were recorded in personal correspondence of the family.  There were other quarters for enslaved domestic workers near the Cook’s Room; they were built along a row of fig trees.  


Archaeological Site: Cooks Room

Behind the main dwelling house, along a gravel path framed by a row of fig trees, stood a series of outbuildings. The Smoke House stood apart from the other buildings and was not far from the quarters of the enslaved domestic laborers. On the other side of the row of outbuildings, cedar hedges and plum trees offered shade and helped to control the mosquitoes around the buildings.  Since outbuildings, like the exterior Kitchen and the Smoke House,produced heat, they were often built separate from the main dwelling house.  This reduced the amount of heat coming into the dwelling house, while also preventing a potential fire from spreading to the dwelling house.. These outbuildings were the domain of the enslaved domestic laborers, and their skills were crucial to the functioning of the plantation.  Unfortunately, there are no known records at this time to know who were the enslaved persons who operated the Smoke House.  Historic Properties is undergoing research to learn more about the enslaved community at Fort Hill in order to share the full and complete history with the public. In the summer of 2018, an archaeological excavation of the grounds surrounding Fort Hill began as an introductory archaeological field school led by Dr. David Marcus of the Clemson University Anthropology Department. The excavation focused on the ground where the various plantation outbuildings once stood in an attempt to learn more about the lives of the African Americans at Fort Hill. Since very little can be known about those enslaved at Fort Hill from their perspective, the material history they left behind is one more way to access the stories left untold. The Fort Hill Archaeological Project has “allowed for the recovery of a large amount of archaeological materials dating to the early college period” (1).

Enslaved African Americans built and used all the plantation outbuildings which served a variety of functions. A Smoke House was an important structure; within this building’s walls enslaved persons worked to preserve and prepare meats before the invention of refrigeration. Though the Spring House was able to cool dairy products and keep sweets chilled during the hot summer months, the Smoke House was critical for the preservation of meat. 

Archaeological Site: Smoke House

The Spring House had a hydraulic pump and was built and operated by the enslaved African Americans at Fort Hill. There are no known records which indicate who built or operated the pump. African Americans would have pumped water regularly and heated it for the cooking, bathing, and cleaning needs of the family. When Union Troops came through Pendleton in 1865, they came to Fort Hill for provisions. Fearing the worst, Margaret Calhoun, A. P. Calhoun's wife, sent her young son, Patrick Calhoun, to hide in the Spring House with a young African American boy named Erasmus. In 1881, Scribner's Magazine wrote this description of the Spring House:"Just under the brow of the hill, in front of the house, bursts out a copious spring, whose drainage has cut a deep gully in the rocky slope. over this spring was a low, square house, the mossy roof of which was too low to obstruct the view from the piazza. Underneath, the rock was excavated into a large chamber, where the spring was curbed and taught a sober channel, cooling the air for the rows of pans of milk and the jars of butter that dwelt in the shady, semi-subterranean retreat. Stone steps led down to this dairy, and a phoebe-bird or two built a nest in the rough portal. Beyond, a little way, four stout posts held a large pigeon-house, a ladder's length above the ground, and beyond this stretched a clover field down to the river" (Gilder and Holland 908).

Fort Hill had a number of outbuildings that housed the various materials necessary for the operation of the plantation. The Spring House was one of those original structures. This subterranean area was built into the hillside below the house where a natural spring once flowed through the property. The spring provided fresh water and the cave-like structure of the Spring House served to chill food like milk and butter to better preserve them. The Spring House was constructed out of local stone to utilize the coolness of the underground for food preservation. A cistern in the middle allowed water to flow from the natural spring to a gazebo-like structure that sat on the hill above. This structure may have served as a pump house. Enslaved African Americans were responsible for bringing fresh spring water into the home and removing wastewater from the home. The wrought iron bars and steel supports are modern additions to the Spring House to stabilize and protect the structure. 

Fort Hill Spring House

The enslaved population at Fort Hill were housed in separate quarters in accordance with the tasks they performed. Those who worked in the fields, cultivating the cash crops of the plantation, were housed in quarters approximately one-eighth of a mile away from the main house. Those who worked as domestic laborers and skilled laborers were housed in quarters closer to the home.  Through the personal correspondence of the family, as well as other forms of documentation such as wills and estate appraisals, some of the names and stories of the enslaved can be ascertained. During John C. Calhoun’s lifetime, there were between seventy and eighty enslaved persons at Fort Hill. A portion of this population would have been domestic and skilled laborers. In 1865, when John C. Calhoun’s eldest son, A.P. Calhoun, passed away, there were 139 enslaved persons living at Fort Hill and twelve of this number were documented as being domestic or skilled laborers.  Their names were:Stepny, house servant; Alick, house servant; Jane, house servant; Louisa, Billy’s wife, house servant; Ella, age 11, house servant; Louisa, Edward’s wife, house servant; Christy, cook; Isaac, gardener; Pries, coachman; Billy, miller; Nicholas, Blacksmith; and Ted, carpenter.   The domestic laborers fulfilled a number of different roles for the operation of the home. Some, like Nelly and later Christy, were the cooks. Others, like Susan, her mother Daphne, and Marie Elizabeth Venning, cared for the children or worked as lady’s maids.

At Fort Hill, some of the enslaved African-Americans worked as domestic and skilled laborers and were tasked with attending to the needs of the Calhouns and their guests. In addition to the Main House, John C. Calhoun’s Office, and the Reconstruction Kitchen, there were numerous other “outbuildings” that served a variety of purposes on the property. Through historical accounts of the property, historians are able to determine the approximate location of some of the outbuildings that would have been the domain of the domestic laborers. Archaeology has opened the door to a more in-depth study of the lives of African-Americans at Fort Hill. Laws and codes prevented many African-Americans from leaving a written record of their lives; this makes a study of the material history they may have left behind invaluable. 

Archaeological Site: Domestic Enslaved Quarters

Upon this hill, this part of the former orchard was the burial grounds for the enslaved African Americans community at Fort Hill Plantation. Although deaths in the enslaved community were rarely documented, the passing of four enslaved persons were recorded along with the 1850 US Census. In November 1849, Elizabeth died at the age of 2 of whooping cough after being sick for six weeks. In 1850, Sophia died at the age of 35 in childbirth in January, Aleck died of white swelling at the age of 12 in February after suffering for two weeks, and John died of worms at the age of 2 in May after suffering for four days; they are likely buried here. By July 29, 1865, a combined epidemic of whooping cough and measles had killed more than 70 enslaved persons, mostly children, at Fort Hill; death prevented them from experiencing freedom. By September 2, 1865, there were fifteen freedmen and women of color remaining at Fort Hill. In the fall of 1891, 147 African Americans convict laborers were leased by the State to Clemson College; the Pickens Sentinel documented that the 3 or 4 convict laborers who had passed away were buried, amongst the former burial grounds of the enslaved community. In 1910, a smallpox epidemic killed many convict laborers, and, regardless of race, they were buried upon this hill. The remaining upended field stones mark a few burial sites on this hill; however, other unmarked gravesites have been verified through Ground Penetrating Radar. At this time, the names, familiar relations, and time of death of those buried here are largely unknown.

One side of the historical marker which stands at the entrance of Woodland Cemetery explains that the site had once been an orchard and the first known burial here was of a child also named John C. Calhoun in 1837. The other side of the marker indicates that enslaved African Americans were buried along the hillside below the Calhoun family plot in graves marked by field-stones. The exact number of enslaved African Americans buried at this site is unknown. Additionally, from 1890 to 1915, convict laborers who died while working to build Clemson College were buried next to the slave cemetery. 

Fort Hill Slave and Convict Cemetery Historical Marker

In an edition of the New York Herald published on July 26th, 1849, an author referring to himself as "A Traveller" [sic] wrote about his time spent at Fort Hill among the Calhoun Family. The article, "A Visit to Fort Hill," describes the "farm:"“There is nothing wanting on the farm; fields of oats, of wheat, of potatoes and of rice, and all in a forward state. Therice field occupies a part of the low land near the Seneca River, and its pale green was in striking contrast with the darkgreen of the corn. The farm is a model farm it consists of about one thousand acres, four hundred and fifty of which arein cultivation. Mr. Calhoun’s method of arrangements are seen everywhere. His system of drainage, of ditching, andmanner of planting on the side hills--so that the furrows carry off the water without allowing the land to wash-- and souseful is it found that his neighbors copy his plan" (1).In this article, Calhoun discusses his knowledge of the Cherokees:“By the way, while walking in the large corn field, I asked Mr. Calhoun what gave the name of Fort Hill to his place.He answered my query by pointing out to me a long hill about a mile from the mansion, and west of the corn field,above the Seneca, and remarked: “There was a fort stood there, built, I believe, during that time by the Americans,and called Fort Hill. It was dismantled with peace, but its name has been given to my farm, on which the old fortstood.” His conversation is ever instructive and while giving me the history of Fort Hill, of which the above is but anabrupt summary, he gave a most interesting narration of the Indian war, long before the time of the French war ofthe Six Nations, of whom the Senecas extended down South as far as this region, and gave their name to the rivernear us; of their power and greatness, their war with the Cherokees; and when the Cherokees had driven back tothe north, he came down to the history of the Cherokees themselves--their alliance with the French against theEnglish colonists.”

The Calhoun Bottoms Historic Marker commemorates the role of Native Americans and enslaved African-Americans in the development of the land that is now a part of Clemson University. "Calhoun Bottoms" refers to an area of land that was cultivated by enslaved African-Americans for the Calhoun plantation. Today, this land is still cultivated by Clemson University students in the agricultural department. 

Calhoun Bottoms Historic Marker

The Fort Hill Plantation sat on approximately 1,100 acres of land, most of which now encompasses the main parts of the university’s campus. The plantation primarily produced cotton to be sold in Charleston. Before 1850, the US Census only recorded the numbers of enslaved persons living on a given property. Beginning in 1850, ages, gender, and race were added, but names remained absent. Historians rely on these documents, and the wills and personal correspondence of the family, to piece together the identities and stories of enslaved persons. At Fort Hill, Census records, wills, estate records, letters, and diaries have provided information about the enslaved community, but readers must be cautious of the potential for bias in these documents since strict laws and codes prevented most African-Americans from leaving their own written accounts of their lives.  In the 1850 U.S. Census, the Calhoun family is recorded as owning seventy-five enslaved persons at Fort Hill and 116 enslaved personas in Marengo County. A small portion of the population at Fort Hill would have been assigned as domestic laborers, working in and around the home attending to the daily needs of the family. The rest of the enslaved living at Fort Hill would have been field laborers, working in the heat and sun everyday to plant, tend, and harvest the cotton crop with which the Calhoun family sustained their wealth. The two sets of laborers had separate quarters depending on their assignment; the domestic enslaved were housed closer to the home, while the field laborers’ quarters were closer to the fields. According to Joseph Scoville, a reporter for the New York Herald writing in 1849, the field laborers were housed in quarters “built of stone and joined together like barracks, with gardens attached, and a large open space in front.” In 1860, there were only fourteen enslaved quarters on the property for a sizable population.  In 1865, after the death of John C. Calhoun’s eldest son, A.P. Calhoun, an appraisal of his estate was performed which detailed the worth of all of his property, including his enslaved property. Through this document, historians have learned the names of the 139 enslaved persons living at Fort Hill at this time. They were: Sawney, age 71; Tiller, age 62; David, age 2; Matilda, age 23; Bella, age 3; Mary Jane, age 1; Jim, age 20; Pheoby, age 25; Laura, age 2; Emaline, age 3 months; Susan, age 22; Binah, age 19; Babe, age 6 months; Armstead, age 14; James, age 11; Fiddy, age 4; Thomas, age 1; Jimmy, age 23; Delphy, age 20; Janice, age 3; Harriet, age 23; Francie, age 17; Christy, age 2; Richard, age 13; Isaac, age 11; Margaret, age 21; Aaron, age 4; Edward, age 32; Fanny, age 7; Allen, age 6; William, age 4; Robert, age 2; Nancy, age 18; Jervis, age 6 months; Peter, age 22; Dick, age 18; Babe, age 6 months; Richard, age 10; Amos, age 35; Sarah Ann, age 35; Binah, age 17; Tom, age 16; Cato, age 14; Moses, age 9; Rose, 5; Izzy, age 4; Peggy, age 88; Isaac, age 33; Edward, age 16; Alick, age 12; Katy, age 64; Cloe, 58; Orr, age 33; Wash, age 39; Hammer, age 37; Daphney, age 18; Sam, age 30; Lucy, age 19; Allison, age 15; Jack, age 12; Jonas, age 29; Chapman, age 25; Harry, age 41; Delia, age 41; Harry, age 23; Margaret, age 20; Sarah Ann, age 12; Eliza Ann, age 14; Jack, age 16; Billy, age 45; Jane, age 38; Amos, age 17; Sue, age 15; Peggy, age 13; Kate, age 11; Alick, age 7; Mary, age 9; Beller, age 64; Sharper, age 33; Richmond, age 33; Caroline, age 30; Solomon, age 11; Tiller, age 8; Simon, age 6; George, age 32;  Martha, age 32; Hammer, age 16; John, age 51; Binah, age 48; Jack, age 9; Frank, age 26; Amy, age 24; David, age 9; Alick, age 7; Betty, age 6; Ben, age 26; Becky, age 22; Lizzie, age 3; Dink, age 26; Susan, age 25; Beck, age 4; Mack, age 23; Ellen, age 22; Amos, age 16; Pheobus, age 34; Kitty, age 34; Robert, age 18; William, age 11; Stephaney, age 8; Mary, age 5; Martha, age 6 months; Jasmin, age 51; Massey, age 42; Jim, age 26; Darcas, age 34; Katy, age 15; Abb, age 32; Joe, age 8; Arthur, age 3; Tom, age 32; Jane, age 28; Moses, age 12; Tom, age 4; Peter, age 50; Ephraim, age 29; Maria, age 20; Nancy, age 3;  Stepny, house servant; Alick, house servant; Jane, house servant; Louisa, Billy’s wife, house servant; Ella, age 11, house servant; Louisa, Edward’s wife, house servant; Christy, cook; Isaac, gardener; Pries, coachman; Billy, miller; Nicholas, Blacksmith; and Ted, carpenter.

The quarters for the enslaved African-Americans who labored in the fields at Fort Hill stood approximately one-eigth of a mile from the main house. They were described in 1849 as being made from “stone and joined together like barracks.” During John C. Calhoun’s lifetime, between 70-80 African Americans were enslaved at Fort Hill. This number grew to 139 at the time of A.P. Calhoun’s death. This historic marker, erected in 2016, is a part of Clemson University’s ongoing efforts to tell the full and complete history of the university.

Fort Hill Walking Tour

Upstairs Fort Hill-William Lowndes Calhoun Bedroom

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information