Name/Title
Bed TableEntry/Object ID
1970.121.1Description
Mahogany veneer English William IV style bedtable. The tabletop is tray-shaped, resting on a key-shaped platform on brass casters. The octagonal pedestal features a screw table adjustment.Use
A versatile and convenient piece of furniture, the overbed table offers a practical writing surface for individuals while they rest. Its adjustable height allows the tabletop to be set at the desired level while the casters ensure the table can be moved away from the bed when not in use.Context
In 1844, widow Keziah Goodwyn Hopkins Brevard (1803–1886) inherited two plantations in Richland County from her father, James Hopkins (1774–1884). While she managed both sites—Oldfield Plantation and the newly named Brevard Place—she resided at the latter. By the early 1860s, Keziah enslaved over 209 individuals. Around that same time, Keziah kept a diary, later published as “A Plantation Mistress on the Eve of the Civil War,” which reflected her views on slavery as a necessary evil. Aside from those she enslaved, Keziah managed and lived at Brevard Place alone, aside from a brief period when her half-sister, Sarah Hall (1791–1867)—also a childless widow—lived with her following her release from the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum.
After Keziah’s death in 1868, Brevard Place passed to the daughters of her half-nephew, Governor James Hopkins Adams (1812–1861). In 1903, Caroline Hopkins Adams LeConte (1850–1935) purchased the property at auction. Family lore suggests she renamed it "Alwehav," referencing that it took "all we have" to acquire the property. While the structures no longer stand, the property remains in the hands of descendants and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. According to the donor, a descendant of LeConte and previous owner of Alwehav, this table was salvaged from the site.Dimensions
Height
31 inWidth
35 inDepth
17-3/4 inRelationships
Related Places
Place
Location
Alwehav PlantationState/Province
South Carolina