In Which We Find Agnes Mann. Or Do We?

If you have been following along with us on the trail of Agnes Mann, you’ll know that we found her obituary, along with obituaries for most of her family, and other references to help us know where she lived in Beaufort.

There’s the Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. I found her exact location of her house next to the Tabernacle Baptist Church, because the 1900 census had her house number and street. We decided to go find her house on a Monday, not a Sunday, since there would be church services next door, and we wanted to walk around Agnes’s house, which was right up against the property line.

We set out to Beaufort, first to the library and then in search of some lunch.

As we turned on to Scott Street, Sugar said to hold up! And back up. It’s a collection of cottages and accommodations that are part of the Beaufort Inn. Why is this one named Scheper?

We park, and take a quick self-guided tour.

This is to the back of the Scheper Cottage and fronts on Craven Street. You can’t see it, but Agnes’s house is one block away on the right side of the street. Apparently, the Beaufort Inn takes up the block.

The back of the Scheper Cottage.

We circle around the cottage, and we’re back on Scott Street across from the library in front of the Beaufort Female Benevolent Society marker.

BEAUFORT FEMALE

BENEVOLENT

SOCIETY

The Society, founded in

1814 to educate and

provide relief for

destitute children, built

this house in 1895 and

leased it for many years,

using the income to help

the needy. Tenants included

the Clover Club, which

operated a circulating

library here (1910-1917);

and an infirmary (1917-

1925). Funds from the 1982

sale of the house continue

to provide relief

for people in need.

The Clover Club! Mrs. Lengnick’s paper, “Beaufort Memoirs”, was read to the Clover Club.

Then onward to Plums for lunch and a cold drink.

We had beat the lunch crowd, but by the time we finished our meal, the restaurant was filling up.

It was time to go visit Agnes Mann’s house. We crossed over Bay Street, and walked along until we saw her house on Craven. We gazed across a parking lot, still amazed that her house had the good fortune to be on the north side of the street, for many of the south side structures were gone. It was also a good thing that her house was next to the Tabernacle Baptist Church. The church owns a good portion of the block, including Agnes’s house, and as our luck would have it, there was a funeral taking place. This meant that we would not be able to really get up close and personal with the house.

ROBERT SMALLS

Born a slave in Beaufort in

1839, Robert Smalls lived

to serve as a Congressman

of the United States. In

1862 he commandeered and

delivered to Union forces

the Confederate gunboat

“Planter,” on which he was

a crewman. His career as a

freedman included service

as delegate to the

1868 and 1895 State

Constitutional Conventions,

elections to the S. C. House

and Senate, and 9 years in

Congress. He died in

1915 and is buried here.

Wow. I had no idea that Robert Smalls was buried right here, even though I knew who he was.

I’m wondering what the holes are in the stonework are for. Supports for a fence? The holes are at regular intervals, so I can’t resist taking photos of every section.

While we don’t actually see anyone going in or out of Agnes’s house, there are folks going into a building behind the house. Perhaps it is the gathering hall for the church people who are there after the funeral.

We head back to the van at the waterfront, and stop for ice cream. A breeze springs up, blowing up from the southwest, and we hear and spot a small, bowl-shaped waterspout in the harbor.

We head over to the Saint Helena Episcopal Church’s graveyard, and notice that the parish house is open. What great luck! We stop in.

We meet a nice lady who, when asked if anyone can help us find a graveyard plot, pulls a booklet from a drawer. And produces an index and a map for the cemetery which shows the plot for Daniel Mann and the Mann family.

They are in L1.