♪ [wistful piano music] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ We have just walked through some beautiful, monogrammed iron gates, across a landscaped lawn, to introduce you to the White Mansion on the corner of Elizabeth Lane and White Street, named for the family, in Rock Hill.

This is the original home of Ann and George White, built in the 1840s, and currently the home of Mr. and Mrs. William White and their children.

This is a beautiful home, a lovely example of the architecture used by the wealthy planters of the Upcountry, with the double porches above and below and lovely grounds.

The original house started after the marriage of Ann and George in 1837.

At that time they lived in a two-story cabin, which is now part of the back garden and is still standing.

It's the oldest standing structure in Rock Hill.

After the house was built with 13 rooms, the log cabin became the kitchen and had a 7-foot-long brick chimney.

In this was cooked the meats and all food that was used.

Later, when the first son was born, an east wing was added to the original house, thereby making 20 rooms in total.

The garden is beautiful, and as you walk through the lovely landscaped area, you'll notice that one magnolia tree is missing.

It grew until a terrible hurricane in the 1920s destroyed that and many other of the plants.

Rather than replacing the ancient magnolia, Hiram White, a resident in the home at that time, brought from Summerville the live oaks which he placed around them.

In the early 1920s, Mr. White and his friend, Dr. Thomas Biggers, and a Mr. Joseph Rawlinson, visiting the Lowcountry decided that azaleas would grow beautifully in the Upstate.

These azaleas at one time were as high as the second story of the porch.

Unfortunately, severe storms caused them to be cut back, but they always return and bloom beautifully every spring.

It was from this yard and what is now Glencairn Gardens that azaleas were introduced to the Upcountry.

You will find the trees are very old and lovely.

Enjoy a visit with me as we go inside and hear some family stories and see some beautiful objects from now and long ago.

♪ ♪ As we enter this lovely home of William and Rebecca White, we leave outside all the noises of a busy city, Rock Hill, a city of 40,000 people.

We are in a home that's so calm, charming, and delightful, filled with beautiful antiques and lovely furnishings from many periods.

It's hard to realize that, once upon a time, this was really a farm home isolated in the middle of hundreds of acres of land.

The old house is still very beautiful.

Mrs. White tells me that modern electricians have a dreadful time trying to get electrical wires through these beautiful, solid walls to accommodate our modern conveniences.

This house is just lovely indeed.

Again, remembering Ann White, we find that there are many things left here that are family items wh ich come from her generation.

Ann's brother Andrew moved to New York City and became a banker and broker.

He sent lovely things to enhance the home in the Upstate of South Carolina.

One of them is a lovely organ.

We can imagine that Ann was delighted to receive it, because she could not only pl ay for members of the family, but also in this room, they held church services before a church was built in this area.

Andrew also sent a beautiful piano, but that has been lost from the family through the process of time.

In one corner you will enjoy seeing a beautiful piece of furniture of burled mahogany called a gentlemen's wardrobe.

It has the solid upper doors, as opposed to windowpanes, and was imported from England into the United States, and William and Rebecca bought it.

In clearing out the chest for their own use they found checks and other material which had been left by the former owner in England.

We want you to notice the beautiful Sheraton sideboard in the dining room.

This is from Rebecca White's family and was owned by her great-grandmother, who requested that it always be kept in the family.

It was built about 1780 and is a beautiful example of the Sheraton style of furniture making.

As we sit here in this beautiful, calm room where one feels a sense of peace, one realizes that Ann White, whose picture is in this room, was a strong, wonderful lady.

She and her husband George had four children.

Upon the birth of the first son, an addition to this house was built perpendicular to the main building.

The house itself was on the main highway between Charleston and Charlotte, and many, many travelers came this way as well as people moving the bales of cotton and the other foodstuffs raised on these farms.

The road was a very important artery for transportation and travel 150 years ago as it is today.

So people were delighted when the idea of a railroad appeared, when it was known that at long last they would have an easier way to travel themselves and, particularly, a way to get th eir products to market, rather than the long trek by wagon and mule cart.

The railroad was proposed to go through the township of Ebenezer, three or four miles from where we are at the moment.

However, the people of Ebenezer did not want the railroad.

They felt noise would disturb the cattle and mules.

The story varies...to disturb children, frighten horses.

Be that as it may, the builder said, "Well, we'll just move the proposed roadbed."

So they found a rocky hill three miles from Ebenezer, and there they put the depot and laid the tracks.

So the land used by the first railroad builders was part of the Ann White farm or plantation.

Gradually, as the people of the area needed a spot in which to store their items before they moved them by train or as the different parts of a town began to grow, various parts of the land were sold to these incoming families.

Ann was not selfish at all.

She and her husband had been staunch members of the Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, again, three or four miles away.

As more people moved into the land occupied by the Whites and the Alexander Templeton Black families, the need for a church closer to the community grew.

So Ann gave the land for what is now First Presbyterian Church of Rock Hill, between Main and Black Streets, an d you may visit it.

I'm also told that she gave the la nd for the first cemetery.

She was a very strong and wonderful woman.

She loved George dearly, and the poor gentleman, while overseeing construction of a spur line of the railroad into Ebenezer, contracted pneumonia and died at the age of 48.

So Ann was left alone to rear their four children, to look after the people who were her responsibility on the plantation, and to tend to the farm and the thousands of worries and decisions which had to be made in order to support everyone dependent upon her.

She did this.

She lived until she was 78.

Never was a family in need or in sickness-- a family who was destitute for one reason or another-- who was not visited by Ann White, regardless of race, color, creed, or where their home was originally.

She was there when she was needed because her religion was very important to her, and she truly believed in doing the things that she believed taught to her from the Bible.

It was a long life, and wonderful children she reared.

Indeed, the family we're visiting today are the fifth generation of the White family who have lived in this house.

We do thank William and Rebecca White for letting us visit them today.

I want you to come with me and see some of the most interesting features of this beautiful, old house.

We are in one of the bedrooms of the second floor where we are enjoying this beautiful bed, so high from the floor that it takes three steps to get into.

There are many stories connected with the White house.

Once, Mrs. Wade Hampton, wife of the hero of South Carolina, spent the night here.

She sent her maid to Ann White, saying she was used to linen sheets and would like them changed.

Ann sent the message back... sorry, but her linen had been cut into bandages for the Confederate Army.

The other story is the nullification quilt.

The ladies became disgusted with the embargo laws and new taxes placed upon manufactured goods.

They decided they would return to spinning their own thread, weaving their own cloth, and dying it with natural dyes.

Each lady in her home did this.

They brought a scrap of the cloth to Ann White's house and together pieced a quilt as their protest, their nullification, against these rulings upon the manufactured goods.

Now, not every hour of the day was spent on very practical necessities.

The ladies also believed in decorative arts for the home.

I want you to see a lovely, framed paperwork where Ann White or one of her descendants very carefully cut a design in paper, and it's been carefully preserved so we can enjoy it today.

Now go with me-- even though we have to miss other wonderful things-- go with me into the "Prophet's Chamber."

[footfalls] This room was designated by Ann White-- one of the 20 rooms of the original house-- as the Prophet's Chamber.

The name was given to this room from Second Kings, Chapter 4, in which the woman of Shunam set aside a room for the prophet Elisha.

Ann White set aside this room for ministers of any denomination who happened to be passing through and needed shelter for the night.

There was an exterior stairway.

Ministers could enter without disturbing the family and come and go as their duties demanded.

That has since been made into a window.

The furniture is original, brought by oxcart from Charleston.

It is painted with a floral design.

This makes it very unusual, because furniture of this type too frequently was revarnished or destroyed because the solid mahogany was thought more valuable.

But more valuable is this... a bed, desk, a chair in which I'm sitting, washstand, and dresser with a shaving mirror at the top.

The beautiful fireplace kept ministers warm with the original fire fender, and a total of 81 ministers of all denominations enjoyed this room while it was still in use as the Prophet's Chamber.

Even the curtains and the soap are the original ones brought from Charleston.

What a contribution to life was made by Ann White, particularly in her use of this room as a Prophet's Chamber.

[no dialogue] One of the most dramatic stories of this area is concerned with Ann White and the safety of her home during the Civil War.

We know that a detachment of Union soldiers was based in Yorkville, what is now York, and that they traveled around this area maintaining the peace for the Northern army.

Unfortunately they took away produce, cattle, and horses, and sometimes they burned the homes of people who were known to be sympathizers with the Southern cause.

So it's also interesting that one young lieutenant who was based in York was named Custer.

We remember him from our history books as General Custer who lost his life later at the Battle of the Bighorn.

One day, here came the soldiers, torches lighted.

The men were ready to fire this house.

The lieutenant had only to give the signal when Ann White dashed out.

Now, there are two stories here.

She gave the Masonic symbol, or she showed her husband's Masonic ring.

But she did something, because the lieutenant saw this emblem, said, "Stop!"

They doused the torches and marched on, and the house was saved.

Interestingly enough, in York and Chester there are family stories that the ladies of the family would make a replica of the Masonic apron, hang it over the banister of the porch or against the wall, and whatever other desecration was created, the homes displaying the Masonic emblem were saved.

We may see these today.

We can feel the aura of happiness, of family love, and love for their church that is within the walls of this house.

No, there are no ghosts, but the people who lived here have been strong people who have contributed greatly to their community, and they still enjoy living in this beautiful home.

We now leave the Ann White House and visit another distinguished ho me in Rock Hill... the Rambo Williams home.

♪ The American poet was right... it takes a heap of living in a house to make a home.

We are visiting the home of Margaret and Thomas Williams, better known as the Rambo Mansion.

This lovely home was built in 1932 by William Clark Joseph Rambo.

Because of his health, Mr. Rambo searched for a pleasant climate.

He found it in Rock Hill, and he also found Winthrop College.

Mr. Rambo designed his own home, situated on 1,000 acres of land, mainly farmed in cotton.

Here he brought his two teenage da ughters from Philadelphia to begin their college years at Winthrop and their life in the South.

We are visiting wi th Mrs. Peggy Rambo Williams, who tells us about her home and family.

Peggy, this beautiful room, how long is it?

(Peggy Rambo Williams) It's 90 feet long.

Originally Daddy had intended to have it 125 feet long.

It's indeed a large room!

It has fireplaces at each end.

I believe that your father built this house for himself and for you two daughters.

That's all, and we ra ttled around in it for a while until-- Daddy never really st ayed here very long.

He intended to move south, but shortly after the house wa s finished, he died, and Tom and I bought it out of the estate.

This has been home over 50 years!

I know it... yes!

I was married in '34...'86.

Well, it's a beautiful home.

There are no partitions in this 90-foot room.

I remember when you had curtains which could be drawn to separate the room into more conversational areas.

That's true... we used to tease Daddy and say he'd sit in the other end of the room to know what everybody was doing.

After we had children of an age where they might like a little privacy, I put up tracks and had portieres... divided the room into three sections so the children could have some privacy.

But you also were chaperoning when you were needed in their early teens.

The marble fireplaces are just beautiful!

They were br ought down from a house in Pennsylvania wh ere we lived originally.

They're Italian ma rble fireplaces.

I imagine they ha ve a long history from that house up there.

You use the far end of this room as the dining area.

It was nearer the kitchen and butler's pantry.

This was mo re formal.

Nobody ever ca me down here.

When one of the children wanted to get away from ev erybody else, they'd come.

I love the coffee table!

You were telling me this is made from a settee?

It looks like beautiful teak, mahogany-- It's a teak table.

You see so much of this do wn in Charleston, and I wonder if sea captains th at went to China brought these teakwood th ings down here.

They're ve ry popular.

There's a table, a square table, in the other end of the ro om that goes with it, and then I had two chairs that I removed the backs and used them fo r coffee tables, because the dragons seem formidable and people didn't usually sit down in them.

Now they'll sit on them.

This is useful and attractive.

I've always loved the sideboard in the dining room area because of the figures who are th e columns holding up the top.

These are adaptations from Greek statuary?

Or the front of whaling boats.

[laughter] The whole set is lovely.

It's a matching set... th e chairs and the table and the buffet an d the china closet, and the lions' heads on the table are beautiful ca rvings too.

They're lovely, and so are the Chippendale chairs which surround it.

It was in th e old Rambo home in Norristown, Pe nnsylvania, that was built at the turn of the century.

So you brought the pieces here.

I notice many lovely, mahogany tables and the petticoat table.

The pier table?

Yes, the pier table.

Daddy bought those fo r himself.

He was fond of women, pa rticularly beautiful women.

Is that strange?

That's very nice.

Well, it's strange in some ways.

Some men don't admit it, but Daddy would pass a mirror any time and say, "You handsome devil, you!"

[laughing] That's funny!

He selected those pier tables for himself.

We enjoyed seeing the rooms upstairs, prepared for the use of brides and grooms when there is a wedding in the home.

In one, there's a beautiful quilt you made.

My quilt of "Little Women"... that is one of the great ac complishments of my life.

All those tiny stitches!

And it's such a wonderful story of family loving each other I like the little one and I always wanted to give it to one of the children of family staying together.

And it is upstairs in the rooms.

In the other room you have a Bye-Lo Baby, a porcelain headed and porcelain hand doll whose head was modeled on the Kaiser, was it not?

A new born baby, yes.

Yes, but I believe it was originally the Kaiser Wilhem who created such trouble in World War I.

[laughing] That, he did.

And also in that room is one of the old high-back beds that was my father's bed, and I've had several of those beds cut down to modern.

I'm rather sorry I did.

And when you started with you and your sister in 1932 when the home was built , you mentioned being brought to Winthrop.

What was Winthrop like when you went to school in 1932?

Mary, do you want me to tell you?

(laughs) Well, good, bad, or indifferent?

(both laughing) Well, it wasn't that.

I had come from a convent school.

It was just different.

I don't know whether it was good or bad, but I had come from a convent school, but we had so many more priveleges in the convent high school than we had at Winthrop.

It was a girls' college, all girls, and then you were only allowed to go out on streets like Oakland Avenue down to Main Street, I think, on Main Street, and men were something you didn't see around campus, you know.

And they could have dates in the sitting rooms on Sunday afternoon so boys could come and call but anyway, it was just different than anything I'd been used to, but I realized afterwards, the girls were very young.

They only had 11 grades at that time, and so some of the girls were 15 and 16 years old and their first time away from home and Winthrop was more like a parent to them than a college, so... And this is not needed today, then.

We got used to it in short order, but it was different.

Not only have you had a wonderful time with your children and their friends here, but also, this was a site of many parties and balls done by the Spinster Club and the Rebel Club when your children were youngsters.

Would you like to tell me about that?

When the children were growing up, the Rebels would take all the furniture out of this room and put it upstairs on the upstairs porch and put little card tables around it, candles on them.

Tom came in one night and he said, "I must go upstairs and shave," and I said, "Don't bother because nobody in there can see a thing, who you are."

And the music could be so loud, that I don't see how they ever could stand it.

I know they could hear it in Rock Hill.

So, young people haven't changed in wanting loud music.

Oh, no.

The Rebels and the Spinsters both spent time here.

Well, it's a beautiful home.

♪ ♪