H-53
22-Jul-2006 revision

V.P. JOHN C. CALHOUN PLANTATION SLAVES

Africans were a vital force in the operation and economy of Fort Hill, the home 
of John C. Calhoun from 1825 to 1850 and Thomas Green Clemson from 1872 to 1888. 
Like many other Southern planters, Calhoun raised cotton as a cash crop using 
African Slaves as labor.

The experiences of the Africans at Fort Hill can be seen as a microcosm of the 
history of Negro's during the 19th century. Since Slaves at Fort Hill left no 
written record, their perspective is unavoidably voiceless in history. However, 
reports of visitors and family letters have given insight into understanding the 
lives of Slaves, who later became Freedmen at Fort Hill.

A reporter for a New York newspaper, visiting Fort Hill in 1849, noted that the 
Calhoun Slaves lived approximately "one-eighth of a mile from the mansion. The 
houses are built of stone and joined together like barracks, with garden 
attached, and a large open space in front. There are perhaps seventy or eighty 
Negroes on and about the place."

During a tour of the Slave quarters, the reporter followed Calhoun. As they 
walked, Calhoun stopped and inquired "in regard to some who were sick; among 
them, seated under a cherry tree, was an aged Negro man, who was, as he informed 
me, the oldest on the place, and enjoyed particular privileges. He was allowed 
to cultivate some four or five acres of land for cotton and other things; the 
proceeds of which became his property, and sometimes produced $30 to $50 a 
season."

Other Calhoun Slaves also were allowed to plant cotton in patches conveniently 
located near the quarters so that they could cultivate them after their work was 
done. The visitor was struck by the business savvy of the Slaves, whom he 
described as "shrewd in getting the highest price for it [cotton] as White 
planters, and are as perfectly conversant with fluctuations in the cotton market 
in Liverpool and New York as a cotton broker."

The Calhoun Slaves must also have known of their own value as property or 
chattel, which often fluctuated with the value of cotton. As property, Slaves 
could be assigned as collateral for mortgages and they could be sold. However, 
it appears from family letters that the Calhouns seldom sold Slaves from Fort 
Hill.

Slaves did have a family life at Fort Hill. While the aforementioned reporter 
was visiting Fort Hill, he witnessed the marriage of a house servant to a female 
slave from a nearby plantation. He recorded that "the marriage ceremony was 
performed in the evening, and in the mansion of the proprietor of the 
plantation. 

The ceremony was performed by the oldest negro who was a sort of authorized, or 
rather recognized parson of the Methodist order." After the ceremony, the 
excitement continued with fiddling and singing.

In addition to weddings, the Calhoun Slaves usually had Sundays off to attend 
church services. Their longest holiday occurred during the Christmas season when 
they were given additional provisions and a four-day holiday. Often the 
celebrations culminated with a party that was held in the kitchen at Fort Hill.

The Calhoun's Slaves were not as homogeneous a group as one might expect. They 
did have the same race, but often that was where similarities ended. The Calhoun 
Slaves ranged in age from infants to the elderly. The oldest recorded slave was 
Mennemin Calhoun. (All the Slaves at Fort Hill were assigned the Calhoun name.) 
Her age was reported to be 112 in 1849. Her husband, Polydore, also lived a long 
life, and they had numerous descendants. The legend is that Mennemin and 
Polydore were first-generation Slaves from Africa.

There was not always harmony among the Slave population. According to family 
letters, Calhoun treated his Slaves fairly well, but understandably they desired 
freedom and often were discontent. There are several accounts of Calhoun Slaves 
who ran away from the plantation. The discontent of the slave population at Fort 
Hill may best be explored through the actions of three Slaves - Aleck, Sawney 
and Issey.

Aleck was often the only male house servant at Fort Hill. He is recorded in the 
history of Fort Hill because he "offended" Floride Calhoun. Fearing punishment, 
he ran away. When he was captured, Calhoun insisted that he be jailed for 10 
days and given 30 lashes. Calhoun did this, he stated, "to prevent a 
repetition."

Sawney had a particular position in the slave community. He was the son of Old 
Sawney, who had been a childhood companion of Calhoun's. Sawney was treated well 
including privileged doctor's care. On a trip to the doctor, Sawney set a fire 
to the White overseer's tent, apparently attempting to kill him. He later was 
sent to Calhoun's son Andrew's plantation in Alabama.

Issey was perhaps the most troublesome of the Calhoun Slaves. She was a house 
servant and attempted to burn the house down by placing hot coals under the 
pillow in Willy Calhoun's room. Fortunately for the Calhoun family, the smell of 
burning feathers floated throughout the house, and the fire was extinguished. 
She, too, was a child of Old Sawney, who even though being described as 
"dangerous," remained at Fort Hill until freed.

Despite these occurrences, there were calmer days in the slave community. The 
Calhoun's had skilled gardeners, seamstresses and carpenters, in addition to 
field hands.

The problems during the transition from slavery to freedom at Fort Hill were 
further complicated by the changing households at Fort Hill. After Calhoun's 
death, Mrs. Calhoun sold the estate to her oldest son, Andrew, who operated the 
plantation from 1850 to 1865. After 1866, Floride Calhoun recovered Fort Hill 
through foreclosure and willed it to her daughter and remaining child, Anna 
Maria Calhoun Clemson, wife of Thomas Green Clemson. The Clemson's hired as wage 
hands many of the former Calhoun Slaves.

One of the Clemson servants was Bill Greenlee. He was 17 years old when Clemson 
died in 1888 and remembered working as the stable boy and carriage driver at 
Fort Hill during Clemson's last years.

A glimpse into the experience of Africans at Fort Hill and the study of Negro 
history gives a better perspective of the total life experience at the home of 
John C. Calhoun and Thomas G. Clemson. 

By: Angela Snyder Nixon in 1999

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News Notes of the Oconee County Historical Society - 8/31/92

FIRST ANNUAL SOUTH CAROLINA ARCHAEOLOGY WEEK - SEPTEMBER 19-26, 1992

SEPTEMBER 23 (a Wednesday): From 10:00 to 11:00, Carol Cowan-Ricks will lead a 
tour of Cemetery Hill that will reveal some of the work being conducted on 
African-American burials at the site. (Cemetery Hill is on the Clemson 
University Campus behind the Tiger Side of the Football Stadium.) A luncheon 
will follow at Liberty Hall Inn in Pendleton from 12:00 to 1:00.
Cowan-Ricks will present a lecture entitled "Calhoun's Pre-emancipation African 
Americans" from 1:30 to 2:30 in room 111 of Lee Hall (the Architecture Building 
near the Strom Thurmond Institute). Call Cowan-Ricks at 656-0972 BEFORE 
SEPTEMBER 9TH to make reservations for the tour and/or the luncheon. (NOTE:
Carol Cowan-Ricks is hard to reach by phone. If your call is channeled to the 
switchboard at the Trustee House, ask to speak to Kathleen and ask if she can 
accept your reservation.)  

By: Fred Holder