We love US History and had the chance to take a great field trip to The Rosehill Plantation back in September. It was the home of the Gist family. One of the coolest facts we heard while we were there was that one of the family's nephews was named States Right Gist. Only in SC!...and maybe in Georgia. :)
William Henry Gist (this plantations owner) was the Governor of South
Carolina at the time Lincoln was elected. He said, "The only
alternative left, in my judgement, is the secession of South Carolina
from the Federal Union." One of his last duties as Governor was in fact
signing SC's secession papers, so he is known as the "Secession
Governor".
There was a copy of the signed secession document in the home.
Many of the items in the home were owned my the Gist family, who moved away, but later generations have gifted the heirlooms back. The bed never left the home due to its size. It is called Rosehill because it used to have many gardens full of roses. There is still a rose bush on the property that was there in the 1800's!
The handrail of the stairs is original to the house. Many of the paintings were painted of the family and are among the items brought back to the home. A collector from somewhere out west outbid SC's historic society when they were trying to buy one of the paintings. The collector took there information and after having it in his home for a little over a year, he gifted it to the house and said that is were it belonged.
The quilt and two pictures were created by Mrs Gist when she lived in the home. The big fireplace was in the kitchen that was in a building behind the home. It was there for two reasons: 1. To keep the house cool, and 2. To keep the slaves separate from the family. We learned that it isn't politically correct to say "slaves" any more. The tour guide (who was great) kept saying "enslaved people" and any time she asked a question and someone said slave she would then say, "yes, an enslaved person..." We thought it was kind of interesting...and unnecessary. We obviously under stand that slaves were people-equal in every way. They didn't think that back in the 1800's but we do know...so why change it to enslaved people? What do you think?
One more thing...We got to see a real pianoforte. I got a little Jane Austen-y when I saw it!
