PROSPECT
HILL SOLD
The
Dillon Herald
Dillon, South
Carolina
September 28, 1905
The
Editorial Page
(Editor A. B. Jordan)
The
Purchaser is Mr.
R. P. Hamer, Jr., of
Hamer, Marion County,
and He Will Restore
the Place
The fine old colonial home of Prospect Hill has been sold by its owner, Mr. J. B. Steele, and the purchaser is Mr. R. P. Hamer, Jr., of Hamer of Marion County.
This is a notable sale and much may date from it. Some time ago Mr. Hamer came down to inspect the property, which he had first heard of through an account in The Carolina field. The splendid ruin made a deep impression on him and he accordingly bought the property. The transfer will take place just as soon as the preliminaries can be complied with.
Who Mr. Hamer Is.
The purchaser, Robert P. Hamer Jr., or "Bob Hamer," as he is known to his intimates, is a native of upper Marion county and comes from the famous Little Rock section, bordering on Marlboro. He attended Bingham school and then went to the South Carolina college where he graduated in the class of '85, the most brilliant in the history of the institution.
After leaving college Mr. Hamer married and settled down to hard work. He began with nothing but his fine judgment and his good character. He started in to plant cotton and corn and he made money from the outset. In sight of the little cottage where he and his good wife began the journey of life together nineteen years ago he has built one of the handsomest residences in South Carolina, furnished with taste and elegance and equipped with every modern convenience.
He has long since outgrown planting although he still plants on a large scale and with increasing success.
He has built and owns a controlling interest in the Hamer Cotton Mills, manufacturers of a fine grade of yarns. He owns stock in a number of other mills and a complete list of his real estate holdings would be impressive. Omitting a number he owns the Simpson residence in Columbia, once the home of Chief Justice Simpson. He also owns Live Oak, the famous ante bellum plantation of Governor Adams, near Congaree, below Columbia.
Mr. Hamer served two terms as president of the South Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical society, better known as the State Fair association. In this he was the same pre-eminent success that he has been in private business. The Fair was at a low ebb and had suffered heavily in losing its former able and energetic secretary, Col. Thos. W. Holloway, of Pomaria. Many thought the end had come and when the grounds were changed and the Columbia people showed a lukewarm support, things looked altogether squally. It was at this stage that Mr. Hamer's judgment and business sense came to the rescue and not only saved the day but laid the foundation for greater Fairs than were ever held in South Carolina. The largest crowd that ever attended a State Fair was at the last one and everything was crowded to the limit. There was no hitch anywhere. Everything moved because everything was carefully planned and executed. Mr. Hamer, like all true leaders, showed his grasp of the situation by the men whom he had chosen to assist him. G. A. Guignard, A. W. Love, Porter Haskell, Col. T. J. Cunningham and others equally capable, gave him the support he required to make things go.
He became a member of the board of trustees of South Carolina College when that institution was showing sings of atavism and decay. From the first he implied life and energy into it and from that day the college has been growing stronger. Mr. Hamer is also a member of the board of trustees of Clemson college and has the very highest appreciation of Clemson, of the work it is doing and of its boundless future.
He has never entered politics although in many quarters he is mentioned as a suitable man for governor. Whatever views he may hold on public questions he would make a governor of which the State could be proud and would run it in a business-like manner. Bob Hamer is an example of the high type of citizen of which there are too few. In his own county of Marion his endorsement of any business enterprise will mean success for it, for his word inspires public confidence to a remarkable degree.
This is the man that has bought Prospect Hill and he will prove a worthy and valuable acquisition to this community, if he can be induced to spend at least a part of the time here. He has not divulged any plans, for he usually acts first and talks afterward, but it is a fair presumption that he will spend some time here. He has freely said that he would restore Prospect Hill but has given no details. When he does so the news of it will be found in The Carolina Field, to which he is a subscriber and of which he is an ardent admirer.
Prospect Hill
The Carolina Field lacks space in this issue to give a full account of Prospect Hill and f its eventful history. This may be done later, but it is fitting to say that the place is steeped in immemorial tradition.
Built somewhere about 1735, it was first the home of Benjamin Huger and the Huger's continued to hold it until sometime prior to the war between the States. It then became the property of Mr. Benjamin Huger Ward, and his family lived there until a few years ago when Mr. J. B. Steele president of the Peoples bank, acquired it.
It is famous among other things for having entertained the Marquis de la Fayette on his first night in America. This was in 1777. Later on it is said that George Washington was also entertained there.
There are few of the old colonial houses left and Prospect Hill is one of the last, if not the very last on Waccamaw Neck. The others have met with some kind of mishap and eventual destruction. Most of the old houses were burned. They none had any protection against fire.
The house stands on a knoll and its top may be seen from the river. The garden was once a thing of beauty and its terraces a perennial delight to the hosts of friends and visitors. These terraces are now in ruins, but may be easily restored, and there is no man in South Carolina better able to restore it with judgment and five taste than he who has just bought it.
Prospect Hill is by nature fitted to be the home of a Southern gentleman and will continue to be the home of one. It is a pleasing reflection that both Prospect Hill and Hobcaw Barony should have come into the hands of South Carolinians, and both of them men of mark, able to build up and to enjoy the property acquired.
Mr. Bernard M. Baruch is a native of Camden.
The young firm of Springs and Siau has done a fine day's work for Georgetown in landing Mr. Hamer here. They deserve great credit and it should encourage them to go ahead and be not weary of well doing.
They have the felicitations of The Carolina Field.
The same and more to Mr. R. P. Hamer, Jr. He has bought a historic place, every rod of which contains the fire of old days when "the land was young" and great things were done on Waccamaw Neck. It is to be hoped that greater things will be done there now and that the memory of the past will serve as an inspiration for the future.
Mr. Hamer is a Presbyterian and so far as The Carolina Field knows he is the only one that ever owned property on Waccamaw Neck. This also should inspire him with noble emulation. By inevitable destiny or predestination, he has come possessor of a goodly heritage in a land of promise. He should make it yield its increase.
May he enjoy there the blessing of the God of Jacob, beneath his own vine and fig tree, between the gentle Waccamaw and the misty, storm-cursed Atlantic, where odorous magnolias and majestic live oaks meet together to rehearse the mysteries of old, and roses bloom the whole year round.