United States of America -- South Carolina -- Berkeley County -- Goose Creek
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, plant lists, and photocopies of articles.
General:
Medway Plantation comprises 6700 acres of longleaf and loblolly pine, live oaks, tupelo, swampland and lakes as well as the oldest masonry house in South Carolina. An ornamental garden with irregularly-shaped beds and serpentine paths, known as Miss Lou's garden, was redesigned in the 1930s by Ellen Biddle Shipman. The earlier garden was described as a bird sanctuary and nursery growing anise and Chinese bay trees, azaleas, fringe trees, roses, flowering almond, lilacs, spireas, myrtle, and yellow Jessamine, with wisteria growing up into deciduous trees. The surplus from Miss Lou's garden was planted in long borders alongside three shallow brick terraces, and along paths that led to a schoolhouse on the property. The current drive to the house has double borders of live oak trees hung with Spanish moss that were first planted after the Civil War. In the 1930s architect Ides van der Gracht designed a greenhouse with stepped gables, echoing that feature from the house, and added serpentine brick walls surrounding a garden of flowers and vegetables, on the site of the historic kitchen garden. Prior to the Civil War rice was cultivated at Medway Plantation, followed by cotton and the current crop, timber.
Medway Plantation was first organized as a land grant to Johan (or Jan) van Aerssen in the last quarter of the 17th century. He started the original house which during its long history was burned and rebuilt, nearly abandoned and used only as a hunting lodge, and finally renovated. The house has unusual stepped gables in the Dutch style, reflecting the van Aerssen heritage. After van Aerssen's death circa 1867 and the remarriage of his widow, Sabina de Vignon to Thomas Smith in 1689, the property came into the prominent South Carolina Smith family.
In the early days land parcels routinely were acquired and sold and the dimensions of Medway Plantation changed frequently, finally ending up at 6700 acres under the ownership of Sidney J. and Gertrude S. Legendre in the 20th century, who had purchased and annexed neighboring plantations. Before her death in 2000 Gertrude Legendre put the property in a non-profit foundation with a conservation easement to preserve the pine forests, wetlands, and wildlife. It is recognized as a breeding site for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers, bald eagles, wood ducks and wintering ring-necked ducks, and provides habitat for deer, turkey and quail.
Persons associated with the garden include Johan van Aerssen (former owner and builder of original house, 1686-circa 1688); Sabina de Vignon, (former owner, 1688-1689); Thomas Smith and members of the Smith family (former owners, 1689-1701); Edward Hyrne (former owner, 1701-1711); Peter Gaillard Stoney and family (former owners, 1833-1930); Sidney J. and Gertrude Sanford Legendre (former owners, 1930-1993; Ides van Waterschoot van der Gracht (architect, 1930s); Ellen Biddle Shipman (landscape architect, 1930s).
Related Materials:
Medway Plantation related holdings consist of 2 folders (2 35mm slides (photographs), 34 digital images)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.
Topic:
Gardens -- South Carolina -- Goose Creek Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942
Letters written by Charles Lang Freer to his friend and business associate Frank Hecker (1846-1927) during multiple trips to Europe and Asia between 1904 and July of 1908. After a decade absence, Freer travelled again to Asia, taking extended tours of Egypt, Syria, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and Japan. Also included are letters written from Detroit that describe the status of Freer's offer of his collection to the Smithsonian.
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Hecker.travel4
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters written by Charles Lang Freer to his friend and business associate Frank Hecker (1846-1927) during his last trip to Asia from August 1910 to April 1911. Freer sailed directly from San Francisco to Yokohama, rather than passing through Europe as in his earlier visits to Asia. His visits included Shanghai, Beijing, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Shenyang, Dalian, Hangzhou, Kyoto and Nara. Freer also spent three weeks in the remote Buddhist cave complex of Longmen.
横浜 東京 京都 奈良 北京 上海 杭州 开封 洛阳 沈阳
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1Hecker.travel6
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Comprehensive index of Charles Lang Freer's library, mostly relating to art and Asian culture. Headings include authors, countries, and topical subjects. Sections include locations in Freer's original Detroit home; an index of all books transferred to the Smithsonian; a list of collections and collectors catalogues of American and Near and Far Eastern art; sales catalogues, and books in Chinese language.
Arrangement:
Organized in the original manner by the creator.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 05.22
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Topic:
Art, Asian -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Art, American -- Collectors and collecting Search this
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
12 Items (letters including envelopes and business card)
Container:
Box 25, Folder 15
Type:
Archival materials
Letters (correspondence)
Date:
1912
1912-1919
Scope and Contents:
Letters dated between 1912 and 1919, discussing Chinese political conditions and the Chinese art market. Pang also introduces Freer to the dealer You Xiaoxi (Yue Seaouke) who frequently acted as intermediary.
庞元济 游篠溪 庞莱臣 弗利尔
Freer collection numbers: F1904.61
Letters between Charles Lang Freer and Pang Yuanji
Arrangement:
Organized chronologically under correspondent.
Biographical / Historical:
Charles Lang Freer first visited the Shanghai collector and connoisseur Pang Yuanji in 1911. In subsequent years, Freer purchased some of his finest early Chinese paintings from Pang through intermediary dealers traveling in the US.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1PangYuanchi
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
Letters dated 1907, Between Freer and American Missionary, diplomat, and collector Horace Newton Allen. Also includes correspondence with Allen's representative and Frank Hecker. Includes a typed catalog of the collection, with a document of certification by Edwin Morgan.
Horace Newton Allen first traveled to Korea as a medical missionary in 1884. Gradually he grew close to the royal court and served in various capacities both as assistant to the court, and as a U.S. diplomatic representative. Allen was recalled to the US in 1905, after protesting America's inactivity in the face of Japan's looming domination on the peninsula. Freer purchased Allen's collection in 1907 while he was traveling overseas through his business partner Frank Hecker.
Local Numbers:
FSA A.01 02.1AllenH
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish, quote, or reproduce must be secured from the repository.
Charles Lang Freer Papers. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of the estate of Charles Lang Freer.
