Chris's Genealogy Journey: June 21st - 24th Abbeville, South Carolina

Burt-Stark Mansion where Jefferson Davis and his cabinet made the decision
to secede from the Union and later agreed that "All was lost" at the end
of the Civil War

While in Albany, Texas I found a clue that led me to look for my third great grandparents in Abbeville, South Carolina. While in Knoxville, Tennessee I found confirmation that my 3^rd great grandfather was Hiram Gaines. I learned that from the will of my 4^th great grandmother Joanne McGehee who identified Hiram as Joanna Gaines’s father. That same document revealed that Joanna had a sister named Margaret Ann but not whether she was an older or younger sister, and that Joanna had 2 aunts – Almena and Nancy. Her aunts were both married so that added two uncles by marriage. Almena married William Butler Brooks and Nancy married Seaborn O. Sullivan. Finally, the will also mentioned a third grandchild, Guilford Waller the son of John Waller, who would have been Joanna Gaines’s cousin and uncle.

Opera House built 1908. Edwards & Walter
Architects

So by finding that one document I was able to confirm 9 new ancestors I had not previously known about. Needless to say this was exhilarating. Discoveries like this, especially after the number of years I’ve been doing family history research, are extremely rare so it is important to savor them when they happen. But, on the other hand, I couldn’t wait to get to Abbeville and look for even more ancestors.

As I headed that way, with my new windshield in place, I checked my handy travel book to see what else I might want to go see in South Carolina and was delighted to find that Abbeville was listed in the book and is a designated historic district. Of Abbeville’s 528 buildings 319 are considered contributors to the historic character of the district. 14 buildings are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A few existed during the time period when Joanna Gaines was growing up in Abbeville.

Abbeville County Courthouse, 1908. Architects Edwards &
Walter

Abbeville is known as the birthplace of the Confederacy – it was where South Carolina’s leading men met and made the decision to secede from the Union. Some years later, at the end of the Civil War, it is also where Confederate President Jefferson Davis met with his War Cabinet and “acknowledged the dissolution of the Confederate government, sadly admitting, “All is indeed lost.”

The historic downtown of Abbeville has been well preserved. Its central square, filled with historic monuments, is surrounded by a continuous link of commercial buildings, an Opera House built in 1908 and the Abbeville County Court House, also 1908. Just off the square the spire of Trinity Episcopal Church(1859) is an iconic landmark. Immediately surrounding the commercial core are several well-maintained southern mansions.

More on my Abbeville genealogy research and what I found in the following post.