Calhoun County Museum
Come and enjoy the history of Calhoun County and South Carolina presented with a personal southern touch.
Commodore Alexander Gillon “settled on the Congaree River near Totness in St. Matthews, Orangeburgh District” in 1787. He named his home “Gillon’s Retreat” and spent a great deal of time and money “embellishing the house with taste and elegance.” The garden, planned with the aid of his wife’s father, Reverend Henry Purcell of Charleston, was equal in beauty to the house. The mansion was constructed along the same lines of most architecture of the period. The building was raised high off the ground with the bottom section being used as a kitchen and the upper section as living quarters. The upper part of the house had a wide piazza; a large hall ran from the piazza into all the inside of the house, and the bedrooms opened into the hall. There were tall, white columns on both the upper and lower sections of the house. The columns were not ornate, but rather demonstrated the simple beauty of the Greek revival which was taking place in architecture of that time.
Before moving to this area, Commodore Gillon served as the first Commodore of the South Carolina Navy and commanded the frigate South Carolina. A wealthy mercantile shipper-trader in Charleston, he organized the Charleston Chamber of Commerce, serving as its first president. Mr. Gillon served in all phases of public life, including Congressman from the Second District.
Gillon died at “Gillon’s Retreat” in 1794 and was buried on the property. When he died, he still owed money from the losses he incurred during his term as Commodore of the South Carolina Navy. One of his creditors’ sons obtained judgment and sold “Gillon’s Retreat”. The creditor’s son, a Buyck of Amsterdam, bought into the property and the plantation remained in the hands of the Buycks for generations after. The mansion was destroyed by fire, probably during the Civil War.
The Cherokee Path passed near here. It was named after George Haig, an Indian trader and Deputy Surveyor General. Haig surveyed many of the early land grants in the area in the early 1730’s and 1740’s. He was killed by an Iroquois raiding party in 1748.
It was George Haig who surveyed on December 10, 1741, a grant of land made to Mrs. Mary Russell (wife of Charles Russell), to be held in trust for her children.
A monument erected here by Ann Heatly Lovell has inscriptions for the following people: her father, Captain William Heatly; her mother, Mary Elizabeth Heatly; her grandmother, her infant son, her brothers and sisters, and others. The site must date back to the late 1700s.
Built by Squire W. A. Hennon in 1855, it is similar in architecture to Olin M. Dantzler’s summer house. Squire Hennon was the first large merchant of St. Matthews. In the 1880’s, the house was reoriented to have a second story (facing Church Street) using Victorian decoration. The second story had two rooms facing Church Street. In the early 1900’s, R. D. Zimmerman purchased the property from the Cain Family. Mr. Zimmerman hired Architect Johansin who squared off the upstairs and made the front of the house to face Railroad Avenue using Greek Revival and using the massive, handsome columns of today. The door facings appear to be original to 1855 - the doors are new; also the window facings appear to be the original. The remodeling was completed prior to 1908.
Calhoun County Historical Sites (cont.)
Haig’s Hill
Heatly Hall Cemetery
Property of Calhoun County Museum Archives.
Not to be used without written consent.
