Union Daily Times Story

Feb. 28th 2008

Palmetto Trust looks to preserve historic house

By ANNA BROWN

Published:

Thursday, February 28, 2008 7:12 AM CST

Staff Writer

It was February of 1865 - an army led by Gen. William T. Sherman was closing in on Columbia and soon would set fire to South Carolina's capitol city.

Gov. Andrew Gordon McGrath contacted an old college classmate, legislator and judge Thomas N. Dawkins, and they discussed moving the capitol to Union.

Sometime around Feb. 15, two days before Columbia went up in flames, the center of government with its records, office holders and supporting workers, moved to Dawkins' home in Union, “The Shrubs,” which had been built in 1845. This gave the house the distinction of being South Carolina's last capitol as a member of the Confederate States of America.

Now, there will be a better chance others will get to know the story of this historic house, located behind USC-Union. Last week, the Union/Laurens Commission for Higher Education signed the Dawkins House over to the Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation.

Michael Bedenbaugh, executive director of Palmetto Trust, said he is thrilled those with the commission took the step toward saving the house.

“Our goal is to get grants to get it stabilized and restored and then turn it over to a preservationist who will be under covenant to maintain it as to Secretary of the Interior standards of preservation,” Bedenbaugh said.

One of the stipulations of the agreement between the commission and Palmetto Trust is that this goal be achieved within five years.

“It is really a proud moment for us to be involved in Union like this,” Bedenbaugh said. “To me, it's one of the most important buildings in Union. Beyond the status of being the state capital, it's one of the earliest buildings in Union.”

Bedenbaugh said while examining the Dawkins House he found it had been built around an earlier house that predates the Dawkins House by 20 years.

“Not only will be saving the Judge Dawkins house, we also will be saving one of the earliest houses in Union,” he said.

The house was donated to the Union/Laurens Commission in 1999 by Union businessman Tommy Simmons. At the time of the donation, USC-Union officials said they hoped the house could be restored and become an integral part of the campus.

Budget constraints, however, didn't allow this to happen, said B.F. Kennedy, chairman of the commission, and Steve Hudson, a member of the commission who headed a committee to study what should be done with the house. Commission members and USC-Union leaders instead were faced with attempts by Gov. Mark Sanford to close the school and had to concentrate on maintaining the present facilities and increasing enrollment.

The commission hired David Langley, an architect who is a Union native, to assess the house.

In a report completed in January of 2004, Langley concluded that it would take $679,000 to restore the house.

“The threat to the house is immediate,” reads the assessment. “Failure of the floor sills and parts of the foundation present a very present danger of collapse of portions of the house.”

The Progress Club of Union mounted a drive to save the house and had helped bring the Union/Laurens Commission for Higher Education and the Palmetto Trust together. Steve Blackwell with the Progress Club said members are happy the house has another chance.

“We are tickled to death it's been approved,” Blackwell said.

Blackwell said that if properly restored, the house could be a centerpiece of downtown Union and a real tourism draw. He said he and other club members have found many in Union don't know the historic significance of the house.

The Progress Club plans to provide funds to help repair the tin roof of the house, an immediate need.

The Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation is involved with one other project in Union County, the restoration of the Means House in Jonesville, which was owned by the Union County Historical Society.

“We have an easement that the Union County Historical Society will always have access for tours and educational purposes,” Bedenbaugh said. “We have a couple who plan to restore it. The man is an historic wood worker and will restore the house as their primary dwelling.”

More history of the Dawkins House

During the days the house served as capital of the Confederacy, a wedding was held. Dawkins' black cook and private nurse, Sophia, wed Albert Wright. Performing the ceremony was Dawkins' preacher, the Rev. J.D. McCullough, rector of the Episcopal Church. The governor was among the guests.

Confederate records were burned in the fireplace of the house to help those associated with the government avoid prosecution by the Yankee government.

In March of 1865, when Sherman advanced north near Union, he and his army neared the area on the Chester side of the Broad River, which was out of its banks. This led them to miss Union.

McGrath later was arrested by federal authorities, removed from office and imprisoned.

Dawkins' wife, Mary Poulton Dawkins, a school teacher, is significant to history. She was a native of England, where her family's estate was called “The Shrubs.” This estate was 10 miles from London and was home to a gothic-style Church of the Nativity, Isle Worth Chapel, Sussex. Beginning in 1856, this stone church was duplicated in Union on South Church Street by Judge and Mrs. Dawkins and Clinton Williams. It cost $15,000- a sizable sum at that time.

Both The Dawkins House and the church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Before Mrs. Dawkins' time, a widow who wasn't American born could not inherit real estate. She refused to become a naturalized citizen, even at the urging of then South Carolina Gov. David Johnson and her husband. Her husband maintained the law was unjust, legislated against it, and it was changed.

Blackwell points out that the house is an integral part of Union's historic corridor and compliments perfectly with Rose Hill - the home of South Carolina's secession Gov. William Gist. Rose Hill relates to the start of the Civil War and The Dawkins House to the end. Only three cities have ever held the distinction of holding the state capitol.

Those wanting more information about the house may find details on a website compliments of the club, www.dawkinshouse.org.

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(Editor's note: Steve Blackwell of The Progress Club provided the historical information for this article using Dr. Allan Charles' “Narrative History of Union County” and the 1966 book “Plantation Heritage” by Kenneth and Blanch Marsh.)

 

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