20 South Battery (Stevens-Lathers House)

Archive

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Historic Charleston Foundation

20 South Battery, ca. 1970s: Origformat: Print-Photographic
20 South Battery, ca. 1970s

Origformat: Print-Photographic

Name/Title

20 South Battery (Stevens-Lathers House)

Entry/Object ID

SBATTERY.020.1

Scope and Content

Constructed ca. 1843; altered 1870; partially restored 1970s, 1990s. J. Henry Devereaux, architect for alterations. Samuel N. Stevens, a factor in partnership with John and William Ravenel, purchased this property in 1843. Stevens's house stood three stories with a T-shaped floor plan and piazzas on the front elevation facing South Battery; the original front door stood in an ell toward the western rear of the first elevation of this porch. Colonel Lathers, a native of Georgetown, S.C., went to New York in 1847 and made a fortune in banking insurance, railroads, and other pursuits. By tradition, Col. Lathers decided to assist in the reconstruction of his native state after the war, so he moved to Charleston. The Charleston Courier stated on March 31, 1870, that Col. Lathers's residence on South Battery was "in [the] charge of Mr. J.H. Devereaux." Devereaux's enlargements for Lathers included a large frieze and cornice with supporting brackets and a fish-scaled slate mansard roof with an arched tripartite dormer projection. The top floor of the dwelling housed an exceptional library described by a visitor as "filled with books and engravings." Receptions were held in the house for important Union leaders, including Gov. Horatio Seymour of New York and William Cullen Bryant. After attempting for nearly four years to restore goodwill between men of the North and the South, Lathers sold the house and returned to New York. Since the 1970s the main house and dependency have been utilized as a private residence and as an inn. (Poston, Buildings of Charleston.) File contains FOHG house histories (1993, 2002); other narrative histories including one by owner J. Drayton Hastie, Jr. (undated); newspaper articles (including 1969, 1975, 1981 DYKYC); house history from Information for Guides of Historic Charleston (1984); 1886 Earthquake damage assessment; Hurricane Hugo damage survey; brochure for The Battery Carriage House.

Collection

Historic Charleston Foundation Property Records

Acquisition

Accession

SBATTERY.020.

Source or Donor

20 South Battery (Stevens-Lathers House)

Acquisition Method

Collected by Staff

Lexicon

Search Terms

South Battery, Eighteenth-Century Expansion, Historic buildings--South Carolina--Charleston

Legacy Lexicon

Object Name

Property File

Archive Details

Archive Size/Extent

1 File Folder

Archive Notes

Finding Aids: Index to Property Files. Level of Description: Folder

Location

Location

Shelf

Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Date

February 7, 2023

Location

Container

PF Box 95

Shelf

Prop File Shelves, Property File Shelves

Room

Margaretta P. Childs Archives

Building

Missroon House

Category

Permanent

Relationships

Related Person or Organization

Person or Organization

Devereux, John Henry

Related Entries

Notes

2020.005.10, HUGO.002.036 Related Units of Description: HABS Documentation of the South Battery, SBATTERY.GEN.1A-B

Related Publications

Notes

Buildings of Charleston (see Abstract), pg. 268-269

General Notes

Note

Notes: Image #1 in this record from Russell Rosen negatives, 2007.017.1h. Image #2 is from an 1851 birdseye view (provided by Kevin Eberle). (See also Object ID#80.1.4, Birds-Eye View of Charleston.)

Created By

admin@catalogit.app

Create Date

March 20, 2012

Updated By

admin@catalogit.app

Update Date

February 17, 2023