Glimpses of 1861 Summerville Through the Recollections of Lieutenant Andrew McConnell at Camp Woodward on the South Carolina Railroad

Camp Woodward set up along these tracks

The South Carolina Railroad and a building boom in the 1850's brought prosperity to Summerville. By the eve of the American Civil War, there were five hotels and boarding houses(Brown's Hotel, Captain Vose's, and Mr. Cooper's Paradise to name a few) three churches, two public buildings, nine stores, 372 dwellings and servants' houses, and 1088 inhabitants.

Lieutenant Andrew McConnell wrote an extensive diary about his time at Camp Woodward in Summerville during the explosive days of 1861. He prodigiously penned on a daily basis. His candid commentary outlining his observations and personal experiences about the troops and townspeople were both profound and striking, as verified by the musings of a fellow officer, Major Thomas W. Woodward.

Shortly after Fort Sumter was bombarded and secured, South Carolina State troops consisting of the 6th Regiment South Carolina Infantry to the Confederate Government were ordered to rendezvous 22 miles outside of Charleston on the South Carolina Railroad, so said the diary of Lieutenant Andrew McConnell. He stated on June 6, 1861, "This morning at home - though I do not feel so well packing my clothes for to start to Camp Woodward, Summerville, Charleston District, South Carolina. We are stationed 22 miles from Charleston city on the railroad. I left Columbia at 2 O. C., P. M. enroute to the camp. 9 0. C., P. M. I arrived at Summerville."

It would be a chaotic time for the town of Summerville with the arrival of the emotionally charged troops. About the gathering combatants, Major Thomas W. Woodward wrote in his memoirs, "And—folly of follies—you were to be allowed to choose whether you would go as a Regiment or disband and go home, although you had already agreed to offer your services to the Confederacy." About the troops, he lamented, "some companies preserved their discipline, others were really but roving mobs of jolly, rollicking soldiers."

Woodward continued, "One company—the Fairfield Fencibles—which was the last to arrive, finding that their tents had not, been erected for them, and that other general arrangements for their ease and comfort were unprovided, created such a din that the Colonel turned them loose and allowed them to go into town to hunt quarters, and it was not long until they captured this elegant summer resort, and were having a good time generally; and they were only brought back to camp some days after..." It was party time in elegant Summerville, which included a lot of drinking.

Lieutenant Andrew McConnell recounted his various excursions into Summerville in great detail often laced with bits of amusing commentary.

He occasionally visited "Miss Mag Brown. She is one of the handsomest Ladies that my eyes ever beheld...& during the night my whole dream was concentrated on her." He often dined at a place he called Judge Cooper's Hotel(Mr. Cooper's Paradise), where he enjoyed "chicken, beef, dumplins, bacon, cabbage and molasses." He spoke of savoring a glass of ice cream and iced lemonade while in town and fished and bathed in a lake 200 yards from camp.

Lieutenant McConnell was a church-going man, who also had an eye for the ladies, judging by some of his comments. He often visited Summerville's Episcopal Church concerning which he said was "a very neat church. Carpet floored and seats filled with the prettiest Ladies imaginable. After services were over I followered after a very handsome Lady as I was bound to learn her destination - in which I was successful. She stopped at Judge Cooper's Hotel." On another occasion, he wrote, "There were a good many spectators out on dress parade this evening and among them were some very pretty ladies." At one service, he estimated "there were about three hundred present and among the number about eighty volunteers."

On June 16, 1861, after a stay at the Charleston Hotel, he wrote, "2 l/2 0. C. in the afternoon we got on the Augusta train and proceeded to Summerville which is about 1 l/4 hours ride. Rev. Mr. Douglas preached this evening. His text, "Acquaint Thyself With God."

Some of the troops were not so polite to the pretty ladies and citizens of Summerville. McConnell recalled, "Two men of the 6th Regiment in jail at Summerville for bad conduct towards the females. Today there are twenty men detailed to patrol over in Summerville today and night. All of which originated from the bad conduct of the volunteers towards the citizens of Summerville." The offending men no doubt were incarcerated in the Old Town Hall jail, which was built in 1860 when Robert I. Limehouse became mayor.

On June 20, 1861, McConnell pens one of his more fascinating entries, where he states, "R. M. Clark and myself walked to the head of B. H. Guard Street and took a glass of Ginger Pop and a saucer of ice cream." Ginger Pop in Summerville. How was that possible in 1861?

James Vernor first developed the recipe for his ginger pop in 1861 at a Detroit drugstore called Higby & Sterns, but was then called off to join the Civil War, leaving his ginger syrup to lay dormant in an oak cask. After his return in 1865, he finalized his golden ale formula and first served it to the American public in 1866 when he opened a drugstore of his own in Detroit, Michigan, on Woodward Avenue and sold his ginger pop at its pop fountain. So, where did Summerville get its Ginger Pop?

Well, it is possible it came from Ireland. The best informed historians attribute Thomas Joseph Cantrell, an Irish apothecary and surgeon, with the invention and manufacturing of the first golden style fermented ginger ale with a strong ginger spice flavour in Belfast, Ireland, in the 1850s, which he marketed through local beverage manufacturer Grattan and Company.

And then, there was Robert Robinson of New York City, who claimed he was the first one to make ginger ale in the U.S. in the 1840s, calling it ginger soda. However, his claim was rather dubious to say the least because his concoction was more like the "gingerades" being made in England at that time, rather than the ginger ale "flavor" produced in Ireland. Whatever the case, Lieutenant McConnell's diary entry confirms Summerville offered some of the finer things of life.

On July 15, 1861, Lieutenant McConnell made his final entry pertaining to his stay at Camp Woodward with the words, "This morning I took the cars at Shelton destined for Virginia via Summerville. July 16, 1861, This morning I woke up in Virginia." Thus, Lieutenant Andrew McConnell's time in Summerville came to an end.

McConnell would not return to his home in Northwestern Fairfield County, South Carolina. He was killed at the Battle of Petersburg on July 30, 1864. This article only covered a small portion of snippets taken from his Summerville experience. His writings were preserved and for a brief moment, they give Summerville historians a fascinating glimpse into their elegant little town's exposure during the turbulent days of 1861.

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