Herb,
I find all this information interesting as I live in the Charleston, SC area and my
daughter gradualted from Clemson, although I was born and raised in Baltimore. I am a
little confused as to why this is being posted to a Maryland list as Andrew Pickens was
born in Pennsylvania and then lived in SC. I think your work and the fact you have
contacted so many people to improve conditions at Hopewell are admirable. If only there
were people like you who were willing to do as much for the education system in SC to
improve conditions there. Good luck in your quest.
Monica
--
Monica Mullikin
Goose Creek, South Carolina
-------------- Original message from "herb_316" <herb_316(a)bellsouth.net>:
--------------
Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 4:10 PM
Subject: Hopewell, Home of General Andrew Pickens - Update, etc
Dear People Concerned for Hopewell, historic home of General Andrew Pickens,
5/24/2008
I'm going to first make some inputs as to my understanding on Hopewell and
Clemson University.
Hopewell as best I can determine from SC Archives records online came into
Andrew Picken's possession by a SC land Grant in 1784 (for his Revolution War
Services). In 1785 he started building Hopewell where he lived for a number of
years. Depending upon research from others he seemed to have let his son Ezekiel
live in the home next and later his son Andrew Pickens Jr. (a Governor of SC)
lived there. It passed through a number of hands until sometime in the 1950s
when Clemson acquired the land as best I can determine through the federal land
grants to Universities (some 27,000+ acres to Clemson from poor upstate SC land
owners.) From others data Clemson let various people live in the home with what
appears to be minimal or no maintenance. In a 1930 picture Hopewell had two dark
shutters adjacent to each window. In 1972 the picture of Hopewell showed they
had been removed and not replaced the shutters, however the hangers are still
there in place today next to the windows. A!
historic marker is on route 149 about 0.7 mile SW from route 22 (Old Stone
Church Rd.). On the west side of the marker (#39-4) there is an acknowledgement
of Hopewell as the home of General Andrew Pickens South from the marker. On the
East side of the marker is the acknowledgement of the Hopewell Treaty with the
Cherokee Indians. At some time in the past the home has been placed on the
National Register of Historical Homes which requires the homes to be maintained
by law (as I have been told). However there is no plaque attached to the side of
the front door as I am familiar with.
Tom Clemson left in his will his land and direction to start a college. However
about this time frame Upstate SC Farmers were petitioning the SC assembly to
provide a College to educate their Children. In 1892 this act was passed by the
SC Assembly and apparently the state funding for Clemson College was started in
1893. Therefore in my estimation the SC Taxpayers have mainly over the years
footed the bills for the infrastructure called
Clemson University today. Also note in SC today there is a continuing funding
bill that provides for salaries, maintenance, up keep and any other continuing
item necessary to support any institution. It of course is the option of the
receiver as to where and how the money is spent in regard to preventive
maintenance.
In April of 2008 Ann Sheriff published an article on Hopewell and General Andrew
Pickens in the Old Pendleton District (SCGS) Newsletter. When I saw it and read
it I decided to visit Hopewell as I had not been there in years. I'm a native of
the Lebanon Community near Pendleton and live about 3 miles from Hopewell. When
I went to visit the home I could not believe what I saw. The paint was peeling
off from the Clap board, the front porch and nearly everywhere on the home
siding, there were large holes in the clapboard (in particular one about 2
inches wide by 12 inches long next to the middle second story window), the front
porch structure had large cracks and hole in it, the porch boards were loose
and buckled, the foundation had multitudes of grout missing and bricks missing
plus the stone had not been repaired, a window on the second story SW corner had
what looked like a place for an air conditioner in it and was left open to the
rain, the gutter over the entrance to t!
he "large beautiful fireplace in the basement- quote from Old Pendleton
Commission report on Hopewell" had a rusted out gutter hanging down from the
eaves, the rear kitchen chimney had kinks in the bricks and mortar was missing
all over the foundation, the screens over the window to the kitchen was rotted
out, rough cuts outs or rot was prevalent in a lot of the clap board, the back
door kitchen steps of wood was pitched to one side with the right side buried
into the ground, two windows on the North side had air conditioners mounted in
them, there is a nine pane glass window to the basement open about six inches
with three panes of glass broken out, and in general a home which it was more
than evident that no one really cared for it or had done any preventive
maintenance in some time. (By the way I have pictures of the above and more.) To
top it off no one even cared to keep the grass cut. (Note of recent (5/2008) the
entire grass surrounding the state has been mowed for !
a change.)
In addition there are three out building which have some paint on the front side
but none on the rear just bare boards and rot (One would think there is some
type of deception going on here.). Some type of structure which looks like a
weather station is in the front yard, a gas tank with two pumps is in the side
yard with a metal structural building and two shelters which house construction
equipment and farm equipment apparently owned by Clemson's Agriculture
Engineering Department.
When I got home from the visit to Hopewell I decided to try and see if I could
get some help in finding out who was responsible for allowing Hopewell to rot as
well as to find out who could be approached to see that some repair and
maintenance was done. I do genealogical research as a hobby and manage the
Hendricks DNA Project nationwide. So I posted what I had found to the web to
numerous sites and people who should be concerned.
I almost immediately got a reply from the Golden Corner Website (the
genealogical center piece for Anderson, Oconee and Pickens Co., SC). It appears
Clemson had been approached in 2000 about why the slave quarters had been
bulldozed at Hopewell and about the location of a number of slave graves (This
is a cemetery project for Anderson, Oconee and Pickens Co., SC). Within the
reply from Clemson University, President James Barker, said he had no money for
repair to Hopewell. From the record apparently nothing had been done since 2000
in maintaining Hopewell. (Later a contact with the Palmetto Trust I found out
that the state of disrepair was well known to them also.) On 5/2/2008 a reporter
with the Independent mail stated in an electronic mail article that Will Hiott
at Clemson University was studying the restoration of Hopewell.
However I continued to post this information and also to the e-mail address of
the two secretaries of the Board of Trustees of Clemson University. I also wrote
a letter to Bill Hendrix, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of Clemson
University. To this day I have never got a single word from any of them
including Will Hiott. I started contacting state people, Mr. Stroup of the SC
Archives who is responsible for restoration of SC Historic Sites, the Governor
of SC, our US Senators, and Representatives and finally SC State Senator Larry
Martin of Pickens (who is getting involved and has brought in Senator Alexander
of Oconee). Finally the Pickens Co. Historical Society made an inquiry as to
what was going on. It seems they were not aware of the sad state of repair of
Hopewell. Too many people have put their trust in government to do what is
responsible.
Anyway I continued from about the first of April to visit and look at Hopewell
each day. Now remember we have been told by Liz Carey that Will Hiott is
studying the renovation of Hopewell. On 4/21/2008 a Cherry Picker shows up at
Hopewell. Paint is now being scraped. I watch each day what is going on. One day
all the paint drapes are in place after about 10 days and 5 gallon buckets of
paint appear. I post to some of my over 50 sites what is happening, saying and
asking why repairs to all the rot and holes are not being made. The tarps come
down and scraping continues and holes start being filled with epoxy putty, the
air conditioners have been removed after I complained that how could anyone fix
windows with the units in place, the SW second story window gets the lower pane
replaced to keep out the rain and some grout in a hap hazard manner is put into
some of the bricks at various pint around the foundation, etc. The paint
scraping keeps going on and the epoxy filler begi!
ns being placed in cracks in rotting boards, the basement window with the
broken panes are boarded up, without complete removal of the paint, repainting
of Hopewell begins. At this time I have been forwarding all this to people who
have a need to know including a reporter at the Independent mail.
Then I get an e-mail from the Independent mail report telling me that Will Hiott
has contacted me. No he has not. Then I am told that Will Hiott is going to
spend $2 Million on the renovation of Hopewell. I ask simply if this is true
does the right hand at Clemson University know what the left hand is doing? If
you have plans to renovate something why partially scrape paint, fill holes
with epoxy putty, board up windows, replace panes, paint everything and then say
the above?
To date about two coats of paint have been applied to Hopewell, nothing done to
the outbuilding and what I call cosmetic repair made to Hopewell. The beautiful
fireplace in the basement has been made to disappear entirely with the boarding
up of windows. So I ask the question shall we believe Clemson University that
they are really going to maintain and prevent further damage to Hopewell?
Why is this an issue? The Golden Corner website has images along with OPD, SCGS
along with many others who have records both audio and photographic on many
other sites around Clemson University (including the bull dozed slave quarters
at Hopewell) that mark historic events that have been left to go into ruin and
are getting there. If you live in the Pendleton area you know the story that
when Clemson University acquired land from Hartwell now called the Simpson
Experimental Station, from the Federal Governments reimbursement for Hartwell
Lake land, that Col R. W. Simpson's home was allowed to rot and was bulldozed. A
Historic marker along the side of the road is all that is left of the place.
Also if you lived near Joe Douthit wonderful late 1800s home (Lebanon Road)which
is on the Simpson Experimental Station and has been occupied since 1965 by some
Clemson University person you will find it is being let to go into extreme rot
without any maintenance as well as the manager'!
s home. In the eyes of the local people Clemson University does not have a good
reputation for taking care of things outside the immediate campus. You have to
just look at the Clemson building along route 149 and you see rusting roofs,
rotting structures, rust stains, etc in the buildings, apparently there is no
program of preventive maintenance. When you look at the money spent on the
Sports facilities, the immaculate care of them, you wonder is anything important
to Clemson University about recognizing and maintaining our SC Heritage?
Clemson University's reputation to me is in question as to showing their true
concern and intent and making public what they are going to do with a method and
control to insure that SC Historic property is maintained and keep in a state
that it will be insured that it is preserved for future SC generations to better
understand their SC Heritage.
To me the only hope I see is for Pickens County Historical Society to couple
with Senators Larry Martin Pickens and Senator Alexander, Oconee so that
something constructive and open to the public will be done to Hopewell to honor
our greatest Upstate Hero General Andrew Pickens.
Herb Hendricks
Retired NASA Physicist
2418 Lebanon Road
Pendleton, SC 29670
Herb_316(a)Bellsouth.net
864 2616636
Group Administrator Hendricks DNA Project
Secretary Hendricks Family Association
Current Research Families; Major, Smith, Craig, Hendricks, Eskew, Rochester
Web site =
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/hendricks
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