JOHN GEDDES Elected intendant September 15, 1817, succeeding Elias Horry; re-elected September 7, 1818. Resigned upon being elected governor in December 1818, succeeded by Daniel Stevens. Elected intendant January 6, 1823, succeeding James Hamilton, Jr.; re-elected September 1, 1823; succeeded by Samuel Prioleau September 1824. Born 1777, died March 5, 1828, buried at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church. Son of Henry Geddes, married Harriet Chalmers 1798; married second Ann Chalmers in 1805. Attended the College of Charleston, then studied law; admitted to bar in 1797. Planted at Ashley Hill and Geddes Hall [Maryville] in St. Andrew's Parish. Member of state militia, ca. 1804 to 1828, rising from captain to brigadier general. Represented St. Philip's and St. Michael's parishes in the state house during four General Assemblies, 1808-1815; and in the state senate for two terms, 1816-1819, resigning upon being elected governor. Bailey, N. Louise, Mary L. Morgan, and Carolyn R. Taylor. Biographical Directory of the South Carolina Senate, 1776-1985. Volume 1. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1986. Charleston City Gazette, September 16, 1817; January 12, 1819. Charleston Courier, September 8, 1818; September 2, 1823. Downey, Tom. "Geddes, John." Walter Edgar, ed. The South Carolina Encyclopedia. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2006. "Indexes of Graveyard and Memorial Records at First (Scots)." (http://www.first-scots.org) O'Neall, John Belton. Biographical Sketches of the Bench and Bar of South Carolina. Vol 2. Charleston, 1859. (http://books.google.com)
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1977 view, Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress
60 Broad Street began as a double tenement built by house carpenter Gilbert Chalmers. His daughters, Harriet and Ann, married John Geddes, who outlived both of them. During his active political career, Geddes and his children lived in the Chalmers townhouse. While governor, he entertained James Monroe "most magnificently, at his splendid mansion on Broad Street" during the president's 1819 visit to Charleston.
Later remodeled for the Carolina Hotel, since 1867 the building has been occupied by the Home for Mothers, Widows, and Daughters of Confederate Soldiers. The Broad Street façade was extensively remodeled after the 1886 earthquake.
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The [New York] National Advocate, September 26, 1817
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Sanborn Company map, 1888
Confederate Home, 1888
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Preservation Society of Charleston
80 Broad Street, 2012.
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Sanborn Company Map, 1902
Confederate Home, 1902
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Ichnography of Charleston, South Carolina. Surveyed by Edmund Petrie for the Phoenix Fire Company of London, 1788
A double building of masonry construction is depicted on this 1788 map. The north side of Broad Street, "from Jack's shop to the State House," was a ruined streetscape after the great fire of June 13-14, 1796; the Chalmers-Geddes house was erected during the wave of rebuilding that followed the fire.
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Bishop Roberts and W. H. Toms, The Ichnography of Charles-Town at High Water. London, 1739
General area of 60 Broad Street in 1739.
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