Meeting Street memories: 7 Meeting St. — The Josiah Smith House
By Peg Eastman
One of the finest historic houses on lower Meeting Street is number seven, built by Josiah Smith, Jr., the son of the Reverend Josiah Smith and Elizabeth Darrell. A Congregationalist minister, the elder Smith moved his family to Charles Town in the 1740s. Soon after, the younger Smith established himself as a merchant in 1762 and conducted business in the slave trade with Edward Darrell and George Smith. The partners owned the sloop Carolina and the brigantine Carolina Society. Smith imported eight cargos in his own right and three with his partners.
Thanks to his great wealth, by 1788 Smith acquired a large tract of the land on the west side of Meeting St. (some of which he filled in prior to the Revolution) and built a handsome double house which, at the time, boasted a commanding view of the Ashley River across what was then called South Bay (now South Battery).
The house has two and a half stories over a moderately high basement. Black cypress siding masks the insulation of brick laid between the framing timbers. The center pediment, set on consoles, has an oculus (the semi-oval portico with fluted Roman Doric columns and iron railings was possibly added later). The hipped roof rises to a polygonal cupola with a bell-shaped dome — truly no expense was spared.
The interior has four rooms per floor split by a central hall on each floor. A Georgian keystone arch between the entrance hall and stair hall is considered one of the most beautiful in the city. The stairs, with elaborately turned balusters, have two landings on each floor.
Politically, Smith served as a commissioner of fortifications in 1758 and 1774. A Whig, he began legislative service early in the Revolution and represented St. Philip’s and St. Michael’s parishes for four terms in the General Assembly as well as serving as a commissioner in the Naval Board. Smith also financially supported the state government, lending £100,000 and acting as an agent for others, was responsible for additional loans, making him one of the largest creditors of the state.
His patriotism cost him dearly: In August 1780, he was among the leading citizens sent to St. Augustine after the British took the city. They were exchanged in the summer of 1781 and exiled to Philadelphia, where he kept a diary of his daily life and the political occurrences in Charles Town. He returned home in April 1783.
Following the Revolution, Smith served in the General Assembly and endorsed ratification of the federal Constitution. After the Bank of the United States was established, he was appointed the first cashier of the Charleston branch (known as the Office of Discount and Deposit), a position he held until the bank was dissolved in 1810.
Smith, along with his former partners and Daniel DeSaussure, established the House of Smith, DeSaussure & Darrell, one of the most prominent political and financial firms in the state. He was a supporter of the Federalist Party and its policies, especially the Jay Treaty.
He was a lifelong Congregationalist and an active member of the Meeting Street congregation, serving as deacon and treasurer for several decades after marrying Mary Stevens, daughter of Dr. Samual Stevens. Smith also organized and served the Society for the Relief of Elderly and Disabled Ministers and their Widows and Orphans. Mary Stevens Smith predeceased her husband; Smith died at the age of 95 in February of 1826 and was buried in the Independent (Congregational) Churchyard.
The house was sold to Wilson Glover for £4,000 sterling in 1800 — quite a sum at that time. Glover left the property to his daughter Ann, the wife of John Huger. After her death, Mr. Huger sold the house to Mrs. Martha Prioleau, who lived there until her death in 1875. It was then acquired by Mrs. Anna S. Simon, whose estate sold it to Col. Thomas Y. Simons, who added the wide piazzas on the south elevation of the house. In 1881, the family sold the property to The Charleston Club for $11,000.
The Charleston Club was founded in 1852 and was disbanded in 1866. Until its reconstitution in 1881, most of its members were affiliated with the Carolina Club, which was short for the South Carolina Society, a group headquartered across the street from the earlier Charleston Club that was on a lot where its brownstone building burned down. This lot then became the lovely United States Post Office Park and then became the J. Waites Waring Judicial Center. A short-lived Ladies Day event was voted on by the members in 1891 (it was voted out the following year and that policy remains.) In 1927, the club sold the property to Sophia Eleanor Maybank and relocated elsewhere on the peninsula.
The first mention of the “Charleston Club Punch” appears in its minutes. According to Thomas della Torre, College of Charleston professor and historian for the club in 1938, the receipt apparently came from J. Clarence Cochran, a club member in 1852 and was saved by Col. Aiken Simons. It called for “one volume green tea; one volume California brandy; one-fourth volume Santa Cruz rum; lemon juice and sugar to taste; ice; lemon peel and just before serving one volume mineral water.” A postscript noted, “California Brandy blends better than French Brandy; Santa Cruz White Rum has the better taste. If Santa Cruz cannot be had, use Jamaica Rum, Bacardi Rum will not do.”
The punch was mixed in great quantities and became a popular event. E. H. Sparkman is thought to have had a special aptitude for its preparation, for the minutes of 1915 meeting state that the secretary was instructed to ask Mr. Sparkman to “mix the same as usual.”
Perhaps the most colorful event in the club’s minutes occurred before the Cooper River Bridge was built when Mount Pleasant residents commuted via a ferry that ran from Hibben Street to a terminal at the east end of Market Street. There was also no telephone service across the river at that time.
One evening in the days of unlimited betting, a Mt. Pleasant member got involved in a high-stakes poker game with a someone known as the slowest caller in the club. Shortly before the midnight ferry left, there were only two players left with the pot up to several hundred dollars — a sizable prize. At a quarter to midnight, the player gave his poker hand to a friend, promising to call for the results from the ferry dock. The ferry was about to leave when the man learned that his opponent still had not called the bet. It was not until the following morning that his friend met him at the ferry landing and reported that he had won the pot after his adversary had finally called the hand.
Mr. and Mrs. H. Cecil Sharp of Long Island purchased 7 Meeting in 1937; they renovated it and raised the height of the garden wall to ensure privacy. In 1944, Mrs. Sharp sold the property to Francis J. Pelzer. The property was later bought by Thomas R. Bennett who sold the home to Leon R. Drake; it now remains in a family trust held for Elisabeth Burtschy, wife of Lawrence R. Burtschy.
My appreciation to Robert Stockton and Lish Thompson for contributing to this article.
A Charlestonian by birth, Margaret (Peg) Middleton Rivers Eastman is actively involved in the preservation of Charleston’s rich cultural heritage. In addition to being a regular columnist for the Charleston Mercury she has published through McGraw Hill, The History Press, Evening Post Books, as well as in Carologue, a publication of the South Carolina Historical Society.
