Part 7

A HOUSE OF TRAGEDIES, _the Hanging of Lavinia Fisher_: In 1820 lawlessness on the "Neck" northward of Charleston was regnant. "Gangs of white desperadoes occupied certain houses and infested the roads leading to the city. To such an extent did these outlaws carry their excesses that wagoners and others coming to the City were under the necessity of carrying rifles in their hands for their defense. Travelers passed these houses with fear and trembling. More dreaded than others of these haunts was that known as the Six-Mile (?) house, occupied by John Fisher and Lavinia, his wife," says King's _Newspaper Press of Charleston_. Fisher and his wife were taken into custody and high crimes and misdemeanors charged against them. In the cellar of their roadhouse were found the bones of guests they had murdered. Their motive was robbery. Their house was on the Meeting Street Road, a section of the Old State Road, Charleston to Columbia. The Fishers were tried and convicted in Charleston. According to King they were hanged February 18, 1820, "at 2 o'clock, just within the lines, on a hill east of the Meeting Street Road, about eight hundred yards north of the street known as Line Street continued." Mrs. Fisher was unnerved and "called upon the immense throng assembled to rescue her and implored pity with outstretched and trembling hands." King is mistaken about the Six-Mile house, as authorities say that it was the Four-Mile house, the site of which is readily located; it is four miles from the Charleston Court House on the Meeting Street Road, about a mile north of Magnolia Crossing, and visible from the King Street Extension which is the Charleston approach by the Coastal Highway, United States 52.

WESTMINSTER CHURCH, _Rutledge Avenue and Maverick Street_: This Presbyterian congregation sold its building at 273-75 Meeting Street to the Trinity Methodist Episcopal congregation and erected a new church about two miles from the other site. The congregation derives from St. Andrew's, or the Third Presbyterian, Church in Archdale Street, built in 1814. It was due to a separation from the First (Scotch) Presbyterian Church. The Reverend Dr. Buchan was the first pastor. About 1850 this church was razed, the congregation building anew on the west side of Meeting Street; the new church was called the Central and for more than twenty years was under the pastoral charge of the Reverend W. C. Dana. With it merged the Glebe Street Presbyterian Church of which the eminent Reverend Dr. J. L. Girardeau was pastor. The Central Church became Westminster. The old yard in Archdale Street is not now used for burials.

OLD THEATER SITE, _Joseph Jefferson, Manager_: In 1793 the Charleston Theater was built in a corner of Savage's Green and about the same time New Street was built. Years afterward Joseph Jefferson, famous and beloved American comedian, managed a theater in Charleston. He told the writer that it was at New and Broad Streets, but authorities say that Mr. Jefferson was mistaken; that he meant another old theater at Friend (Legare) and Broad Streets. The late Reverend Dr. Robert Wilson told the writer that this was another mistake, as Mr. Jefferson managed Placides Theater in Queen Street! Mr. Jefferson's mother was born in Charleston.

SUGAR FACTORY SITE, _Later a Home of Correction_: According to _The Courier_ (May 16, 1868) at the west end of Broad Street was Savage's Green on which, before the Revolution was built a manufactory for loaf sugar. For this reason it was known as the Sugar House. It became a Work House or House of Correction. "The lot, together with the building," says _The Courier_, "was afterwards owned by Dr. Le Seignieur, who, in 1807, contemplated the establishment of a cotton manufactory. The plan was abandoned in consequence of the machinery having been lost on its passage from Europe."

SECOND (FLINN'S) CHURCH, _Meeting and Charlotte Streets_: Presbyterians in Charleston growing in number it was decided that another church was necessary and thus the Second Church was organized in 1811. Its site is the highest place within the City of Charleston, about fifteen feet above mean low water. The tower behind the portico was intended to be surmounted by a steeple, but this addition has yet to be erected. From its first pastor, the church is often alluded to as Flinn's.

ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH, _403 King Street_: At Christmas, 1867, the corner stone for St. Matthew's German Evangelical Lutheran Church was laid. The church building was dedicated in March, 1872. The tallest spire in Charleston surmounts the church. An impressive representation of the Crucifixion is in a stained glass window.

CITADEL SQUARE CHURCH, _328 Meeting Street_: Offspring of the old First Baptist Church in lower Church Street, the Citadel Square was founded in 1854 and the building dedicated in November, 1856. Members of the Wentworth Street Baptist Church joined with the Citadel Square. In the cyclone of 1885 the steeple fell in such manner as to carry away the front walls of the residence at the northeast corner of Meeting and Henrietta Streets. Several years ago the church building was renovated, the already large auditorium made larger. The Citadel Square, deriving its name from the nickname of the Marion Square which it faces, has one of the largest Baptist congregations in the South.

CHURCH OF THE HOLY COMMUNION, _Cannon Street and Ashley Avenue_: From this church went its rector, the Reverend H. J. Mikell to become Episcopal Bishop of Atlanta. The late Anthony Toomer Porter, D.D., was its rector for years and this gave the name of Holy Communion Church Institute to what is now the Porter Military Academy. St. Timothy's Chapel at Porter is more or less attached to the Holy Communion.

ST. ANDREWS LUTHERAN, _37 Wentworth Street_: This church building was severely damaged by Union shells in the War for Southern Independence. It was then a Methodist property. After Appomattox this congregation joined with a Morris Street Lutheran congregation under the pastorate of the Reverend Dr. W. S. Bowman. It has had a succession of able, eloquent Lutheran ministers, including the Reverend James A. B. Scherer and the Reverend M. G. G. Scherer.

ST. JOHANNES CHURCH, _48 Harrell Street_: This building was first used by the St. Matthew's congregation which later built on King Street opposite Marion Square. As St. Johannes, it was organized in 1878, though the earlier Lutheran congregation was there in 1841.

SHAW MEMORIAL SCHOOL, _22 Mary Street_: Charleston's tolerance as a community may be illustrated in the Shaw school for negroes. Since 1874 this institution has been in the Charleston city school system. It is a memorial to Colonel Robert G. Shaw, Union officer, who fell at the head of his regiment of negro troops in the assault on Battery Wagner, Morris Island, in the War for Southern Independence. His family provided the "spacious school house" for negroes, the land having been bought in 1868. The Shaw Monument Fund was supported entirely from the North until 1874.

POINSETTIA PULCHERRIMA, _Named for Joel Roberts Poinsett_: The Poinsettia is commonly known as Charleston's flower. It was brought from Mexico by Joel Roberts Poinsett, about 1828. "There is some difference of opinion," says Dr. Gabriel Manigault, "as to whether Mr. Poinsett discovered it himself or simply introduced it to this country." After his retirement from a busy and distinguished public service, Mr. Poinsett's home "had always been in the City of Charleston." His residence was "situated upon what is now Rutledge Avenue, on the east side, a few squares above Calhoun Street. The house ... was recessed some distance from the street, and stood in the midst of a grove of live oaks; it was generally known as Poinsett's Grove." Mr. Poinsett was representative in congress, minister to Mexico in an eventful period, Secretary of War under President Van Buren, a rice planter who contributed much to the improvement of the grain.

CHARLESTON'S HOTELS: The Francis Marion, at King and Calhoun Streets, in the heart of the retail shopping district, facing Marion Square, was opened in the spring of 1924. Its building was a community enterprise.

The Fort Sumter, facing the Battery, at the foot of King Street, on the Ashley River, was opened in 1924. It maintains a dock for yachts. It is in the exclusive residential section.

The St. John Hotel, built by Otis Mills, a caravansary with a long and a distinguished record, is at the southwest corner of Meeting and Queen Streets. President Theodore Roosevelt stayed here in the winter of 1902.

The Timrod Hotel, opposite Washington Square, is a comfortable and convenient place in the building formerly occupied by the Commercial Club.

The Charleston Hotel, Meeting between Hayne and Pinckney, has housed many notable guests, including the Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria.

The Argyle, northwest corner of Meeting and Hasell Streets, was renovated and newly outfitted some years ago. It was formerly the St. Charles.

Villa Margharita, South Battery and Church Street, was the former home of Andrew Simonds, banker.

CABBAGE ROW, _Supposed Home of "Porgy"_: Everybody coming to Charleston inquires about "Porgy," the deformed negro of whom DuBose Heyward wrote a best seller, which was translated into a successful play. Cabbage Row, on Church Street, near Tradd, west side, is the supposed Catfish Row. Cabbage Row has been renovated and restored. "Porgy" was a well-known Charleston character whose home was in the former Village of Cool Blow, on upper Meeting Street. His last days were tragedy. It would spoil a reading of "Porgy" to discuss him at length.

WASHINGTON RACE COURSE, _August Belmont Moved the Pillars_: Memories of the old Washington race course survive, but the Jockey Club has been out of existence these forty years. Decades have elapsed since races were run on the course. The track was on property entered from Rutledge Avenue near present-day Hampton Park. In 1901 the old pillars in the ornate gateway were purchased by August Belmont and reërected at his Belmont Park, near New York City. There are now no traces of the famous race course to which in the season the South Carolina aristocracy went in force and regalia. Notable races were run.

OLD 'BORO BOUNDARIES: Should a visitor stay in Charleston long enough to ramble out of the beaten paths, these boundaries to old divisions may be of interest:

Savage's Green, west of Logan and Broad Streets.

Harleston's, bounded by Beaufain, Coming and Calhoun Streets, and the Ashley River.

Mazyck's Lands, bounded by Archdale, Beaufain, Broad, Smith and Trapman Streets.

Cannonboro', bounded by Smith, Bull, and Spring Streets and Ashley Avenue.

Gadsden's Green, bounded by Cannon and President Streets, the old public cemetery (the Stadium) and the Ashley River.

Gadsden's Square, bounded by Congress, Payne, Mount and Line Streets.

Elliottboro', within Spring, Line, and Coming Streets and Rutledge Avenue.

Radcliffeboro', within Radcliffe, Vanderhorst, Smith and King Streets.

Wraggboro', eastern part of the Wragg Lands about the old Northeastern Railroad station.

Mazyckboro', bounded by Chapel, Elizabeth and Calhoun Streets and the Cooper River, running into Wraggboro' as a wedge.

Ansonboro', south of Wraggboro', bounded by Calhoun Street, a line between Society and Wentworth, King Street on the west, Anson Street on the east.

Glebe Lands, extending from Beaufain to George Streets, between St. Philip and Coming Streets.

Hewatt Square, bounded by Friend (now Legare), Broad Mazyck (now upper Logan), and Queen Streets.

Archdale Square, bounded by Meeting, Broad, King, and Queen Streets.

Schenking's Square, north of Queen, between King and Meeting Streets, half-way to Horlbeck Alley.

"City Mudpond," East Battery, South Battery, Church, half-way to Atlantic Street (nowadays a most fashionable residential area).

Village of Hampstead, between South, Blake, Meeting and Bay Streets; owned by Henry Laurens and the Bampfield family.

Village of New Market, north of Hampstead.

"There are other smaller divisions of land which are too numerous to mention here."--_Wilmot G. de Saussure._

_Index_

A PAGE Academy of Music 55 Academy of Our Lady of Mercy 80 Aiken, William 16 Allston, Robert F. W., Governor 8 Apothecary's Hall 46 Arbuthnot, Admiral 85 Archdale, John, Quaker, Governor 15 Argyle, Duke of 28 Art Gallery, Gibbes Memorial 85 Municipal 40 Ashley Hall, Colonial Seat 35 School 70 Ashley River, Bridge 51 Road 35 Attakullakulla, Cherokee Chief 35 Audubon, J. J., Naturalist 30

B Baker Sanatorium 68 Banks 90 Battery 65 Beaches 91 Beauregard, P. G. T., General 58 Belle Isle Gardens v Beth Elohim Synagogue 78 Birthplace of Masonry 82 Bishop England High School 82 Bishop's House 83 Blacklock, William, House 63 Bonnet, Stede, Pirate 41 'Boros, Boundaries of 102 Brewton, Miles, House 60 Bull, William, House 59

C Cabbage Row 101 Calhoun, Grave 10, 26 Monument 46 Campbell, William, Lord, House 59 Cassique of Kiawah 2 Castle Pinckney 37 Chamber of Commerce 89 Churches: Baptist-- Citadel Square 97 First 28 Congregational, Circular 26 French Protestant (Huguenot) 27 Lutheran-- St. Andrew's 98 St. Johannes 98 St. John's 50 St. Matthew's 97 Methodist Episcopal-- Bethel 87 Cumberland 29 Trinity 29 Presbyterian-- First (Scotch) 28 Second 96 Third (St. Andrew's) 95 Westminster 95 Protestant Episcopal-- Grace 79 Holy Communion 97 St. Andrew's 34 St. James, Goose Creek 33 St. Luke's 88 St. Michael's 38 St. Paul's 79 St. Peter's 80 St. Philip's (Mother Church) 24 Roman Catholic-- Cathedral of St. John the Baptist 39 St. Mary's (Mother Church) 32 Synagogue, Beth Elohim 78 Unitarian 32 Citadel, Military College 53 Green 46 City Hall 40 Park 57 Cleveland, Grover, President 84 Clinton, Sir Henry 60 College of Charleston 54 Colonial Common 68 Lake 68 Lighthouse 7 Powder Magazine 1 Confederate Museum 46 Convent, Sisters of Mercy 80 Cooper River Bridge 52 Cornwallis, Lord 60 Country Club 90 County Court House 74 Cradle of Presbyterianism 26 Custom House, United States 75 Colonial 41 Cypress Gardens 84

D De Grasse, Compte 85 Dock Street Theater 9, 24 Dorchester, Ruins of 37 Drayton Hall 35

E Edwards, John, House 85 England, John M., Bishop 39 English Church 24 Enston, William, Home 87 Exchange, Colonial 41

F Fenwick Hall 51 Fire of 1861 91 Fireproof Building 58 First White Child 85 Fisher, Lavinia, Hanging 93 Folly Beach 91 Fort Bull 35 Johnson 19 Moultrie 21 Sumter 22 Fraser, Charles, Artist 40, 44

G Gardens, Belle Isle v Cypress 84 Magnolia-on-Ashley 50 Middleton Place 48 Runnymede 35 Gateway Walk of the Garden Club 16 Gibbes, Memorial Art Gallery 85 William, House 62 Gilman, Samuel, Reverend 32 Golf 88 Goose Creek Church 33

H Hall, Hibernian Society 87 St. Andrew's Society, Site 17 South Carolina Institute, Site 44 South Carolina Society 77 Hampton, Park 74 Wade, General, Born 14 Hartford, Famous Frigate 89 Heyward, Thomas, Jr., Signer 63 "Horn Work" Remnant 46 Hotels 100 Huger, Francis Kinloch 17 Huguenin, Thomas A. 23

I Isle of Palms 91 Izard Houses 83

J Jasper, Sergeant 66 Jefferson, Joseph, Actor 96

K King's Highway 52

L Lafayette, General 17 Lee, Robert E., General 10 Liberty Tree, Site 73 Library, Charleston, Society 64 Lighthouse, Morris Island 47 Lincoln, Abraham, President 78 Lucas, Eliza 52 Lutheran, First Church 30 Lynch, Patrick Nielsen, Bishop 39