Abandoned plantation house in South Carolina

Donald Bruce House - Middlepen Plantation, Orangeburg South Carolina

Date added: June 07, 2023 Categories: South Carolina House Plantations & Farms

The Donald Bruce House is one of the oldest surviving structures in the Orangeburg area. According to tradition, it was used as a headquarters during the Revolution by both Gov. John Rutledge (1779) and by Lord Rawdon, the British commander (1781). The house is named for Donald Bruce, a prominent merchant, local public official and member of the South Carolina General Assembly during the Revolution.

According to tradition, the house was built circa 1735, the year Orangeburg was settled. It is more probable, however, that the house was built either by John Fisher, who was granted, in 1770, the lot on which the house originally stood, or by Donald Bruce, who purchased the lot from Fisher in 1773. The house stood originally at the southeast corner of Windsor and Bull (now Dibble) streets, in downtown Orangeburg. According to tradition, it was purchased in 1837 by Daniel Larey, who moved it to his plantation on Middlepen Branch, later called Middlepen Plantation. Russell S. Wolfe moved the house in 1937 about 100 yards to the section of the plantation that he inherited.

Donald Bruce established himself as a merchant in Orangeburg in 1773-74. After his death in 1795, the business was continued by his widow, Mrs. Margaret Lockhart Bruce. After her death in 1815, the business was continued by her son-in-law, Samuel Phillips Jones, and her grandson, Donald Bruce Jones, all later residents of the house.

According to local tradition, Gov. John Rutledge made the Donald Bruce House his headquarters in 1779, when Orangeburg was a Patriot military recruiting and training center. Tradition also indicates that in July 1781, the British commander, Lord Rawdon, had his headquarters there for the few days he was in Orangeburg. Another tradition states that during the Civil War an officer and a few men, stragglers from Sherman's army, visited the plantation. They did not burn the house, but destroyed or confiscated all food and valuables.

Donald Bruce was a Justice of the Peace and Justice of the Quorum for Orangeburg District in 1775, and Tax Inquirer and Collector in 1778. He was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1779-80 (Third General Assembly). Donald Bruce's grandson and namesake, Donald Bruce' Jones, who inherited the house, served in the South Carolina House of Representatives, 1830-32.

Building Description

Constructed of pine, the house has wide flush boarding on the front and clapboarding on the other sides. The roof is gabled with a form of "saltbox" extension toward the rear. The original roof has been replaced with an asbestos-shingle roof. The front facade has two tiers of piazzas, each with six square posts and plain balustrades. Fenestration is symmetrical, but unusual on the front elevation. The first floor has, centered, a pair of doors, flanked on either side by a window. The paired doors are paneled and each provides access to one of the primary rooms on the first floor. (These doors have been hung upside down.) The second level has, centered, a single door, of board and batten construction, with rectangular transom and sidelights, flanked on either side by two windows. Fenestration on the rear elevation is regular, three bays wide with a single door, centered and recessed, on the first level. Side elevations have exterior brick chimneys (not original), flanked by single windows on the first and second levels and by louvered vents at the attic level. Due to vandalism, the majority of window sashes have been replaced. Window configurations include 9/9, 9/6, and 6/6. Windows have board and batten shutters on both levels, supported with hand-wrought strap hinges and pintles. Window and door surrounds are plain.

The first floor consists of two large front rooms and two smaller rooms in the rear, separated by an open vestibule that acts as a back porch. The two front rooms have plain wooden mantels. The second floor has four rooms divided into pairs by a central hall. The two front rooms are larger and feature fireplaces with simple mantels similar to those below. The flooring on the second floor joins in the middle of the hallway, over the central dividing wall of the first floor. All rooms on both floors have walls of flush, wide pine boards, extending horizontally the length of the room. Ceilings are plain, except the right front room upstairs which is board and batten (not original). Ceilings in the front rooms are about 12 feet high; those in the rear rooms are approximately 10 feet high. Some early hand-wrought locks and hardware remain.

Although the structure has been vacant for many years, the owner has attempted to maintain it and the property. Presently, the structure is basically sound, although maintenance is needed. There are currently no preservation plans.

The plantation consists of approximately 200 acres. Included on the property is the house which is surrounded by a circa 1937 fence which has brick piers and an arched brick gateway. The property is presently overgrown and is buffered from the highway upon which it borders by a pecan grove. Two new small sheds are located on the property.