The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1921-11-11
OF June II, 1900.

colonies without their concurrence,
but they thought that the people
would gain but little if they escaped
the injustice Of the British parliament
only to subject themselves to what
they regarded as an 6dious tyranny
Of an arbitrary faction at home
In support of his view is the state
men: made to the same effect by Gen.
McCrady.
When Patrick Cunningham decided
to build his home, it was his inten-
ton to build pretentious frame
house, and II order to get the lumber
sawed he had his blacks cut the tim
Der out Of his forests and raft the
logs down the Saluda to Charleston,
where they could be sawed. Arriving
there with the trees, so the family
tradition gees, he found il impossible
10 get them sawed. There were sew
eral English ships in the harhor lock-
ing about for ballast and ne offered
his logs as ballast, to be carried to
England and there sawed and fash
ioned for the house he wanted to
build. Tradition also says that his
offer was accepted and the timbers
used N the house were actually
sawed and fashioned in England The
nails, every one of them, were made
by hand in a blacksmith shop on the
spot, as were also the hinges used on
the doors and blinds. The brick used
in the house, it is claimed, were made
by English workmen on the grounds.
The blinds were made in England, and
although they are today 1T years old
they are in a splendid state of preser-
walton and hold their shape better
than some made nova days which are
some 145 years their junior.
The frame work of the house is as
plumb today as can be, the chimneys
are as solid and erect as one could
wish. Time, with its iron tooth, has
made many marks on the old house,
but it is in a wonderful state Of pres
ervation. Il is two stories high, with
wide cellars underneath, and a large
attic. The famous old wing cellar is
used today by Maj. Robert n. Cuning-
ham, the owner and sole occupant of
the place, to store lime in. The vint-
ages Of '76 or 81 no longer have their
abiding place there. After the Revo-
luton South Carolina confscated
Rosemont and the land belonging to
it, but afterwards an act wss passed
by the legislature restoring to the
family their ancestral acres.
AS stated above, Rosemont reached
the zenith of its fame under its later
mistress, Mrs. Louisa Cunningham, the
mother Of Miss Pamela Cunningham,
and Of the father Of Maj. Robert N.
Cunningham, who now lives there. Of
Mrs. Louisa Cunningham, Gov B. F.
Perry wrote: ''She was not only
beautiful herself, but she had a love
and taste for the beautiful. Her pas
sion for flowers was unsurpassed; she
collected them from all parts of the
lworld. Her flowers and shrub5eW
covered acres (seven acres were de-
voted to flowers alone, so Maj. Gun
ingham now says) of ground around
Rosemont, which she watched over
and cultivated with the care of mo-
ther for her infant children. She
had the honor of being the pioneer
florist of the ,1p-country. Soon after
her marriage and settlement at her
husbands old family mansion, now
more than 100 years old, she had the
honor and great pleasure of receiving
collection of rare flowers from
Mount Vernon, sent her by Judge
Bushcod Washington. Years after
wards, when l saw her flower garden
and shrubbery, they were surprising
ily beautiful, and laid off with great
taste and artistic skill. She was most
generous, too, in the distribution Of
her rare and beautiful flowers and
plants amongst her friends and ac-
quaintances. Gov. Perry had the
advantage Of frequent personal visits
to 2oseront at this time. Seven acres
/ CT flowers ard 30 acres in a park sur
rounding the flowers. Beautiful ave
nues, making a cross, led from the
front of the house into the park. Re-
mains Of this great park are seen to-
day in few gigantic magnolias, rare
trees and a wilderness OF slrubbery.
The flowers have all gone. Where
! they once grew ard developed their