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 the "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 begins 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