#74: General Wade Hampton, S.C. State Hospital for the Insane, and Pee Dee Back County Day
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Welcome to the first 100 days of the South Carolina History Newsletter! My name is Kate Fowler and I live in Greenville, SC. I have a 9-5 job in marketing, and outside of work, have a deep love of history. I started this newsletter as a passion project to learn more about our beautiful state and build a community of fellow SC history lovers along the way! To establish a foundation for the newsletter and to grow my expertise on a wide variety of South Carolina historical topics, this past February I challenged myself to post 100 newsletters in 100 days. After this coming May 20th, the newsletter will become weekly. Thank you for joining the journey!
Dear reader,
Welcome to Newsletter #74 of The South Carolina History Newsletter! I’m so happy you’re here.
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Kate
(Writing from Greenville, SC)
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➳ Featured SC History Event
Please enjoy our featured SC History Event below, and click here to visit my SC History Events Calendar that organizes all the upcoming SC history events I have discovered. Please let me know if you’d like to add an event to the calendar! Reply to this email or send me a note at schistorynewsletter@gmail.com.
Saturday, April 27th from 9:00 am - 4:00 pm | “Pee Dee Back County Day” | Old ACL Building and Tobacco Barn | Pee Dee Back County Day | FREE Admission
“A fun event for the entire family! Our demonstrators are excellent at their craft and are knowledgeable about the history of what they enjoy. Experience how it was to live back during the Colonial Times in America up to and after the Revolution. We will have live firing depending on location and weather. We hope everyone can have a chance to come by and see all that we have to offer.”
➳ SC History Fun Facts
I.
Did you know that Wade Hampton (who would become famous as General Wade Hampton) may have been the richest planter in the South at the end of the antebellum era?
(Note from Kate: I know I must not be the only one, but I find it very difficult, almost nerve-wracking, to write about the Civil War. One subscriber even wrote to me to “be careful” as I wrote on these subjects — which I appreciated. It is hard to sift through sources and try, in some cases, to decipher if an author is writing with a biased perspective or not. Thank you for being patient with me as I try my best to write in as neutral a way as possible about these difficult subjects.)
Wade Hampton III was born in Charleston on March 28, 1818 and was the eldest son of Wade Hampton II and Ann Fitzsimons. He was the heir to one of the South’s wealthiest families and was educated at private academies at Rice Creek and Columbia before attending South Carolina College (later USC), where he graduated in 1836.
Hampton was a “quintessential planter aristocrat” and he may have been the “richest planter in the South” at the end of the antebellum era, with properties in South Carolina and Mississippi “producing annual incomes of as much as $200,000.”
Between their various properties, the Hampton family enslaved nearly 1,000 people.
On October 10, 1838, Hampton wed Margaret Frances Preston, with the marriage eventually producing 5 children. His first wife died in 1852 and Hampton married Mary Singleton McDuffie on January 27, 1858. Four children were born to this second union.
From 1852-1861, Hampton represented Richland District, first in the S.C. House of Representatives and then in the state Senate. As a legislator, Hampton:
“Promoted economic development in his district, sponsoring several measures for railroads and manufacturing companies. He also played an active role in support of the state asylum and the construction of a new capitol. He generally avoided debates over secession, which he believed to be an unnecessarily drastic means of protecting southern interests. In 1859 he also spoke out against efforts to reopen the Atlantic slave trade, arguing that the attempt was “fraught with more danger to the South than any other that has been proposed” and characterizing the slave trade as ‘that odious traffic.’”
While he was not particularly in favor of secession at first, once it became reality, Hampton “threw himself wholeheartedly” into the effort.
Hampton self-funded the Hampton Legion, a regiment “consisting of 6 companies of infantry, 4 of cavalry, and 1 battery of artillery. He was commissioned its colonel in June 1861, and the legion soon after played an important part in the first Battle of Manassas (July 21, 1861).”
From the SC Encyclopedia, here were some of the highlights of Wade Hampton’s service in the Civil War:
“Hampton commanded an infantry brigade in the Peninsula Campaign (April–June 1862) and was wounded in the Battle of Seven Pines (May 31, 1862). He returned to command a cavalry brigade under General J. E. B. Stuart. Hampton proved to be a superb leader of cavalry, who was at his best in leading raids behind the enemy lines, sometimes with great drama. In 1864 Hampton led the so-called Beefsteak Raid, capturing 2,468 cattle from the Union army. In August 1864 Hampton became the commander of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia. In that capacity Hampton played an important role in the defense of Richmond in the last months of the war. In January 1865 General Robert E. Lee sent him to defend South Carolina against Sherman’s army, but the assignment proved hopeless. By war’s end Hampton was one of only three Confederates without West Point training to achieve the rank of lieutenant general.”
After the Civil War ended, Hampton returned to his homes and properties and found them in ruins. He was banned from holding office due to his Confederate service, so he spent a few years trying to recoup his fortunes, but “ultimately declared bankruptcy in 1868.”
Although his former wealth had diminished, his political star began to rise again. He was pardoned in 1872, and he re-entered the state political arena in opposition to the “postwar Republican regime” in South Carolina.
Hampton took a “paternalistic approach to African Americans,” both before and after the war. He wrote in a letter to President Andrew Jackson:
“The Southern people, amongst whom the negro had lived for generations, naturally imagined that they were fully competent to direct, to instruct, and protect him...The strong, but paternal hand which had controlled him through centuries of slavery, having been suddenly and rudely withdrawn, the only hope of rendering him, either useful, industrious or harmless, was to elevate him in the scale of civilization and to make him appreciate not only the blessings, but duties of freedom...that much more has not been done to carry this sentiment into effect, is due solely to the pernicious and mischievous interferences of that most vicious institution, the Freedman’s Bureau....The negro, whilst he was a slave, was happy, useful, honest and industrious. But his unfortunate association with the Yankee, has corrupted him...While he was ours, we did all in our power to ameliorate his condition, but since he has been withdrawn from our care....we turn him over willingly to those who imported him from Africa, sold him to us, and then stole him to make him free.”
Hampton was “by temperament a moderate” and called for an end to the uprising of “rifle clubs” of white vigilantes with a goal to suppress black voting in elections. He believed that “their violent activities would cause further investigation by the federal government into the state.”
In 1876, the Democratic party, and the conservative “Bourbon Democrats,” convinced Hampton to run for governor.
The campaign was brutal. Both sides engaged in “intimidation and frequent violence.”
Some Hampton supporters organized themselves into military units and wore red shirts, earning them the nickname “Red Shirts.” The Red Shirts were “particularly effective in intimidating Republican leaders and their supporters, especially black voters.”
The most infamous violence of the 1876 campaign occurred during the Hamburg massacre in Hamburg, SC. July 1876, “over 100 white men attacked about 30 black servicemen of the National Guard at the armory, killing 2 as they tried to leave that night. Later that night, the Red Shirts tortured and murdered 4 of the militia while holding them as prisoners, and wounded several others. In total, the events in Hamburg resulted in the death of 1 white man and 6 black men with several more blacks being wounded. Although 94 white men were indicted for murder by a coroner's jury, none were prosecuted.”
By the end of the election there were “290 paramilitary rifle clubs, with 18,000 members.” The Red Shirts all supported Hampton and, though Hampton openly decried violence, “rode alongside him by the hundreds” as he traveled the state to give speeches.
Hampton continued to “urge moderation” from the Red Shirts.
To demonstrate Democratic strength without the use of violence, Hampton “led a march across the state, drawing large and enthusiastic crowds at each stop.”
The election results were hotly contested, resulting in the existence of two governors and two legislatures, with Republicans dependent on federal troops to enforce their position.
Publicly Hampton continued to call for an end to the political violence and urged Daniel Chamberlain to resign the governor’s chair.
Behind the scenes Hampton negotiated with federal authorities for the removal federal troops. Finally, in April 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew the soldiers and Hampton took office on April 11, effectively bringing Reconstruction in the state to an end.
In the eyes of white South Carolinians, “Hampton was more than a victorious political candidate. He was their savior.”
In an overview of Wade Hampton’s political career, the SC Encyclopedia writes:
“Hampton’s administration was characterized by honesty, fiscal conservatism, and attempts at cooperation across racial and party lines. As governor he supported black suffrage and appointed several African Americans and some Republicans to public office. Economically he advocated fiscal responsibility and urged the funding of the state’s debts. Such actions created rifts within his own party, but Hampton’s personal prestige overwhelmed all rivals. In 1878 Hampton was returned to the governor’s chair without opposition and then elected by the state legislature to the U.S. Senate. Taking office in early 1879, Hampton served in the Senate until 1891. His senatorial policies were generally conservative and Democratic, although he sometimes voted with the opposition. He supported the gold standard and opposed his party by supporting the seating of Republican William Pitt Kellogg from Louisiana. In his last days in office he opposed the Force Bill sponsored by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, whereby the federal government could again intervene in state elections to protect the interests of black citizens.”
After he left his Senate seat in March 1891, Wade Hampton served for a time as the commissioner of U.S. Railroads, but his “political influence had come to an end.”
After once being one of the richest planters in the South, at the end of his career, he was financially destitute, and his livelihood depended on “holding office and on the generosity of friends and admirers.”
Hampton’s supporters canvassed the state for funds to provide him a house in Columbia after his last home burned in 1899.
Hampton died in Columbia on April 11, 1902, and was buried in Trinity Episcopal Churchyard.
Please scroll to the bottom of this email for my source for this section
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II.
Did you know that in 1916, the S.C. State Hospital for the Insane had a 178-acre campus in Columbia?
From the very beginning of South Carolina’s history, its citizens have worked hard to meet the needs of mentally ill citizens. Even in the founding of South Carolina, the Lords Proprietors “decreed that the indigent mentally ill should be cared for locally at public expense.”
In 1751 the colonial government similarly recognized the mental health needs of slaves. In 1762 the Fellowship Society of Charleston established an infirmary for the mentally ill. But it was not until the 1800s that the mental health movement received legislative attention at the state level.
According to local lore, in the early 1800s, Colonel Farrow, a member of the SC House of Representatives, traveled to Columbia and saw a destitute, mentally ill woman roaming the streets. The image of this woman made such an impact on Farrow that he teamed up with Major William Crafts, another politician, and the two men worked tirelessly to “sensitize their fellow lawmakers to the needs of the mentally ill.”
On December 20, 1821, the South Carolina State Legislature passed a statute-at-large approving “$30,000 to build the S.C. Lunatic Asylum and school for the deaf and dumb. This legislation made South Carolina the second state in the nation (after Virginia) to provide funds for the care and treatment of people with mental illnesses.”
We have spoken about famous SC architect Robert Mills SC History Newsletter #28 and SC History Newsletter $58, and he was the architect to design the new SC Lunatic Asylum
In 1822, the cornerstone was laid for the Mills Building, which took 6 years to complete. The building's many innovations included “fire-proof ceilings, a central heating system, and one of the country's first roof gardens.”
At a banquet celebrating the laying of the Mills Building cornerstone, the then vice president of the Lunatic Asylum, Colonel Levy, offered a toast:
"The Lunatic Asylum-may it long flourish as an asylum for the afflicted and a monument of the humanity and munificence of the people of South Carolina”
Citizens were wary of sending their loved ones to the asylum, and so, it was not until December 12, 1828, that the first patient was admitted. A young woman from Barnwell County, she was accompanied by her mother who worked as a matron while her daughter was a patient at the hospital.
Despite its many innovative features, the Robert Mills building led to complaints “of hallways that were too narrow, activity rooms that were too small, and flooding on the ground floor.”
By the 1850s, the average patient paid $250 annually. A separate room and eating area cost another $100. “Paupers were admitted for an annual fee of $135, which was billed to the patient's home district. As more paupers were admitted, it became harder to collect fees, and the asylum grew more dependent on state funding.”
Men and women were housed separately, on separate floors. Eventually, a new building nearby was completed in 1858, and the male patients moved there and the women remained in the Mills building.
During the Civil War, funding problems grew worse. Dr. John W. Parker, the superintendent, opposed a plan to turn his complex into a prisoner-of-war camp.
Although the Confederate Army did not get the asylum, the grounds were used as a prison camp for Union officers from October 1864 to February 1865.
Like the rest of the South, the asylum struggled to survive in the aftermath of the war. Despite the lack of funds, the superintendent accepted more patients and often used his own money to provide them with food and other necessities.
With slavery abolished, African American patients became a larger part of the asylum's population. This led to another issue— providing separate facilities for the races.
In 1896, they changed the hospital’s name to the “S.C. State Hospital for the Insane.”
In 1900, the hospital had more than 1,000 patients. Shockingly, more than 30% of patients died annually due to “poor living conditions and inadequate supervision.”
By 1916, the facility became a “sprawling 178-acre” campus of buildings. Here is a birds-eye-view image of the campus below:
Ongoing issues with funding, space, staffing, and patient conditions persisted throughout the 20th century.
Joseph J. Bevilacqua, Ph.D., became the S.C. state commissioner of mental health in 1985. Under his leadership, the department supported the view “that patients treated in the community do much better clinically.” He asserted that “people with mental illnesses need and require close family and community support. They get better faster and stay better longer when they receive services in their community, if such programs are reasonably funded, well organized and easily available.”
In the 1990s, the state began transitioning mental health care into community mental health centers in Anderson, Charleston/Dorchester, Columbia, Greenville, Pee Dee and Piedmont.
The Department of Mental Health ended its use of the Robert Mills building site in December 2015.
Today, the building houses the offices for the state’s Department of Health & Environmental Control.
Please scroll to the bottom of this email for my sources for this section
Please leave a comment below!
➳ Quote from an SC historical figure
“From a plateau of better understanding and broader knowledge we can look back on early treatment programs with chagrin, but we must remember that, in many cases, such was the extent of knowledge in those times. We honor those men of integrity who first gave us guidance and directions. From them we have accepted the torch of responsibility. I wonder how history will treat us 150 years from now? I hope we will be treated as kindly, with as much compassion, as we view those who preceded us.”
—Spoken by Dr. William S. Hall at the 150th anniversary of the S.C. Department of Mental Health
Wade Hampton article sources:
Ackerman, Robert K. “Hampton, Wade III.” South Carolina Encyclopedia, https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/hampton-wade-iii/. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
“Wade Hampton College.” University of South Carolina, https://sc.edu/about/our_history/university_history/presidential_commission/commission_reports/final_report/appendices/appendix-11/recommended-for-removal/wade_hampton_college.php#:~:text=Simply%20by%20making%20the%20Negro,Black%20men%20to%20vote%20and. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
South Carolina State Hospital article sources:
Craft, Susan. “Changing Minds, Opening Doors: A South Carolina Perspective on Mental Health Care,” South Carolina Department of Mental Health's FOCUS publication, 1996, https://scdmh.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/
11/HistoryofSCDMH.pdf. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.“Preservation Matters: SC Department of Mental Health’s BullStreet District | Historic Columbia.” Historic Columbia, https://www.historiccolumbia.org/blog/
preservation-matters-sc-department-mental-healths-bullstreet-district. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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