Pulitzer Family Had Ties to Kingstree, Williamsburg County

The last post noted that during the 1920s and '30s, Kingstree and Williamsburg County became something of a winter colony for rich Northern businessmen. One of those men was Ralph Pulitzer, whose father Joseph's will endowed what we know today as the Pulitzer Prizes, awarded each year in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, as well as in literature, history, and musical composition. In the March 9, 1931, issue of The News & Courier, Laura C. Hemingway wrote about Ralph Pulitzer and his Williamsburg County home, Burrows Hall. Here is her story:

BurrowsHall as it looked in 1931.

When Ralph Pulitzer, publisher of the recently discontinued New York World, leased Burrows Hall, some 15 miles south of Kingstree in Williamsburg County, for a hunting lodge, bringing there on various occasions parties of friends from the metropolis to enjoy the hospitality of the old house and to get into the field with him in search of the quail native to the place, he hardly knew that he was bringing into effect an old idiom that "history repeats itself."

Burrows Hall, besides being one of the earliest of Williamsburg County homes, is one of the most interesting for many reasons. To it clings a glamor of pristine southern hospitality intermingled with that of the north when an interchange of visits between the two sections was not an accepted fact as such are in this day of fast passenger trains and paved highways reaching from the far corners of northern states to those of Florida. To it William Burrows, who occupied the house in 1800, was accustomed to bringing his friends from New York to partake of the social life of that section, one of the most historic and one of the most cultured in Williamsburg County. An abundance of everything good to eat and drink was to be had.

The little wine house still stands close to the wide veranda that runs around three sides of the house, reminding those of the 20th century that in those days a cellar was worthy of the name. It is said that Mr. Burrows kept on his sideboard decanters of the choicest wines and bowls filled with various kinds of fruit out of season. He was a genial host who spared no pains to make his guests comfortable and at ease. None who came to his home lacked for ready service and attention.

Great logs were piled high in the massive fireplaces around which the southern host and his guests gathered to enjoy an evening of camaraderie. The visitors from the north were no less amused and entertained by the southern dialect than were local guests by that of the Yankees. Dr. (Samuel) McGill, in his Reminiscences of Williamsburg County,  paints a fetching picture of a scene like this. He speaks particularly of one local guest by the name of Jack Singletary, who evidently was the "jester" of the group. "Jack," says the doctor, "was as much of a curiosity to them (speaking of the northern visitors) as their Yankee slang was thrown back at them with a hearty laugh all round."

Just who built Burrows Hall is not known with any degree of certainty. Not until William Burrows became its master did it come into any noticeable prominence. Perhaps this was due to the personality of the man. Dr. McGill describes him as being "wealthy, intelligent, and liberal." He inherited Burrows Hall from his uncle, George Burrows. After coming into this property, he was recorded as being the second best taxpayer in the county. While still a young man he frequently visited New York, living there for a time, where he made numerous friends. It was these he invited to his home upon his return here. His table was laden with "New York" dishes, as the people of the community described them, and his double-cut flint decanters and tumblers were the talk of the community for many a day.

Burrows Hall was the only plantation in Williamsburg County to boast an ice house. William Burrows had a far-seeing eye where the comfort of his family and guests were concerned. He had built near the home an ice house, having double brick walls, with a space between the walls filled with sawdust to preserve a low temperature during the hot spring days. "The sight of ice on a hot day was a new source of pleasure to us," writes Dr. McGill. Natural ice from the frozen lakes of the north was shipped in four or five ton lots on schooners to Georgetown. There is was loaded on flats and brought up Black River and Black Mingo Creek to the landing at old Willtown, now a deserted village, then a flourishing trade center. Wagons from Burrows Hall were waiting there to haul the ice to the plantation where it was stored in the ice house. Visitors to Burrows Hall today can see the brick ice house standing near the Hall.

Ralph Pulitzer

Burrows Hall was built in a day when houses were not thrown together for temporary residence, but were constructed in a way to defy time and change. It was built of heavy heart timbers that had been hewn out by hand. These are today solid. Wooden pegs were employed to hold together the body of the building. The nails, hinges, latches, bolts and the like were all hand-forged on the plantation. The original building has had several additions, the most recent having been made by Mr. Pulitzer, when he had a wing, two-stories high, built onto the rear.

The colonial architecture has been preserved. The cornice around the high ceilings of the main rooms and that underneath the eaves on the exterior are hand-carved. The mantels in the two large rooms on the front on each side of the hall are hand-carved and beautiful. These have been defaced by former tenants who were careless with the fires placed in the large chimneys.

Originally the grounds were landscaped according to plans of that day. An avenue of fine trees led down to the public road. In latter years tenants took it upon themselves to cut down many of these, but one of the first things Mr. Pulitzer did upon leasing the place was to have a landscape artist come down from New York and restore the grounds to their original attractive state. Evergreen trees of massive proportions were set out along each side of the avenue and masses of shrubbery placed at intervals along the driveway. A number of magnolia and japonica trees, nobody knows how old, were removed from ancient gardens in the neighborhood of Charleston and brought here on large trucks with trailers, where they were set successfully in the Burrows Hall gardens. The house stands on a little rise of land well back from the public road. The acres sloping off on every side have been planted to winter rye, and this is pleasing.

As the former master of Burrows Hall liked to have his guests enjoy themselves, so does the present master. Tennis courts have been built and a swimming pool of gigantic proportions, made of cement and filled with water from an artesian well on the plantation. The pool measures 25-feet by 50-feet. It has a floor sloping from five-to-nine feet. This is enjoyed by members of local 4-H clubs and young people from Kingstree during the time Burrows Hall is vacant.

In the rear, the pedigreed dogs used by Mr. Pulitzer and his guests in the field are housed better than many persons. These are in the care of a young man who loves dogs and knows how they should be treated.

Although quail are plentiful in the fields surrounding Burrows Hall that Mr. Pulitzer has leased for his preserve, he had last winter shipped in at one time from another state 2,500 birds to be released on his preserve. His guests always return to the lodge with their bag limits.

Mr. Pulitzer has recently purchased more than 4,000 acres of land in the proximity of his lodge. Of this perhaps a hundred acres have been planted to grain to be used as bird feed. On the courthouse books are recorded 688 acres of the Jesse Fulmore tract, 2,631 acres of the undivided McCutchen estate, and 960 acres of the Kennedy estate, purchased by the master of Burrows Hall.

Burrows Hall is situated in the Indiantown section of Williamsburg County, named for the ancient Indian village of which traces remain today. Almost within a stone's throw of the lodge the black waters of McCottry's Lake reflect the boats bearing local anglers here and there on its glassy surface, \ water once bright with reflections of the Red Man's colorful dress. In the churchyard of the Indiantown Church, a place historic within itself, lies the child of a sister of Woodrow Wilson and also many persons who have left their names on the historical scroll of the state (including the aforementioned Dr. S.D. McGill).

It is with pleasure that those who love history for history's sake see old homes of colonial charm restored to their original state of attractiveness. When Mr. Pulitzer brings down from New York his distinguished visitors, those who are familiar with facts of the past like to feel that it is only history repeating itself. Hospitality once again reigns at Burrows Hall. Among visitors there are those whose names are written on the pages of fame, Mrs. Pulitzer herself being known as a novelist of acclaim. Neysa McMein and Rockwell Kent have been among the artists entertained there of late.

Rockwell Kent

I would add to Laura Hemingway's story by noting that artist Rockwell Kent on a visit to Burrows Hall in 1929 produced a bookplate, entitled Kingstree, SC. I have never seen a copy of the print although I believe that it is still in existence. A pencil draft of the bookplate is in Columbia University's Rockwell Kent collection. The Rhode Island School of Design Museum has no online image but lists the bookplate with the notation, Westchester County Recreational Commission.

Ralph Pulitzer's brother Herbert was also involved with Burrows Hall. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Taylor had acquired the property from William Burrows and owned it for about 50 years. The Pulitzers leased the house from the Taylors' son, Dr. William Taylor, who was a prominent Presbyterian minister in Washington, DC, having served as President Woodrow Wilson's pastor.

Thanks to the Pulitzers, Kingstree was on the front page of the New York Times in the spring of 1928 when Ralph Pulitzer, Jr, and his cousin, W. Seward Webb, III, drove from Kingstree to Manhasset, Long Island,  New York, in one day, a distance of 752 miles. They left Burrows Hall in separate cars at 2:10 one Saturday morning, arriving on Long Island shortly before midnight. Webb drove the entire distance himself, although he was accompanied by his family chauffeur. Pulitzer drove all but the last 50 miles, which were driven by his brother, Seward Pulitzer.

In March 1930, an epidemic of distemper swept through the dogs in Kingstree and Williamsburg County. One of Ralph Pulitzer's pure bred hunting dogs died of the disease. Veterinarian Dr. H.B. Hood ordered vaccine from Atlanta in an attempt to save the lives of Pulitzer's nine remaining dogs.

The Pulitzers owned the property from 1928-1940. It remained empty until Elwood Blanton and his family moved there in 1953. The Blantons had just begun renovating the house when it burned on Mothers' Day 1958.