The Robert Mills Courthouse
This article was written by Louise Knowlton Swift (1918-1987), a former Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR, Historian and World War II Veteran. It was published in The Camden Chronicle on October 19, 1977.
“The Robert Mills Courthouse in Camden, South Carolina is associated with Baron Johann deKalb, George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette and its famous architect, Robert Mills. DeKalb was buried in Camden in 1780, following the Battle of Camden, in which he was mortally wounded. Washington paid his respects at his first gravesite, in 1791. Lafayette and Mills took part in the 1825 ceremonies when DeKalb's remains were moved to Camden's Bethesda Presbyterian Church yard. Robert Mills had designed both the church, and the obelisk that marks the second gravesite.
Nearly 100 years later the marker that had been placed over deKalb’s original grave - a large flat slab, approximately 3 x 6 feet- was installed upright behind the front stairs of the Mills Courthouse by the Hobkirk Hill Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution, owners of the building from 1908 until 1933.
Value of the building is enhanced by the importance of its architect Robert Mills. Born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1781, Mills was America's first native-born, professionally trained architect. A friend of Thomas Jefferson, he lived at Monticello for two years while working as a draftsman on plans for the Capital and the Executive Mansion in Washington. Later he designed the wings that joined Philadelphia's Independence Hall to the City and Congress Halls on each side. He designed the Patent Office, Post Office, and Treasury Buildings in Washington, DC. His most famous work is the Washington Monument which he did not live to see completed.
He was responsible for the lasting beauty and usefulness of many buildings in several states, including approximately 15 courthouses in his native South Carolina. He was apparently most pleased with the one in Camden for in 1826 he wrote of it: “An elegant courthouse is now building here which will be superior in its design to any in the state, both for convenience of accommodation, beauty, and permanency.
In 1908, for a token payment, the Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR purchased this famous old building from Kershaw County “ rather than see it sold as old brick and demolished” as a newspaper clipping states. It had fallen into disrepair in the general impoverishment of South Carolina, following the War Between the States and a new courthouse had been built elsewhere.
1934, Library of Congress Photo
In 1939, the Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR, put a small stone marker above the original DeKalb gravestone that they had placed behind exterior stairs several years before when they owned the building. It reads “D.A.R. This stone marked the original grave of DeKalb.”
It was thereafter called “Chapter Hall” by DAR members and was used extensively for meetings and social events by our chapter and other organizations. A Relic Room was establish for DAR use. A lecture room and a reading room were arranged, and a room prepared in 1912 “for the comfort of visitors during the proceedings of the County Fair.” The building was kept open for the public two days every week.
A continuing program of repair and upkeep of the building was required. Many local people and “guests from the tourist element” who visited Camden during the winter season, contributed both money and services to this cause. Basic furniture, chairs in particular, were needed immediately. The fence required extensive repairs in 1910. The balance of all money for the year was required in 1913 “for cleaning, repairing and furnishing and beautifying our Chapter Hall and grounds - new roof; gutters and decayed boxing removed, and new boxing - of best materials - some made by hand, all masonry removed, chimneys fixed, all wood work stained, iron bars on windows, new locks, plastering inside renewed, old brick walls reopened, fence is fixed, and hedges planted around entire lot.” Insurance on the property was bought. The cost of the restoration and maintenance was formidable.
As a matter of record, in 1914 the state legislature officially, if somewhat belatedly, donated “the old Court House” to the Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR.
The years of the first World War saw a great change in activities at Chapter Hall. Patriotism being one of the keystones of the organization, Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR, devoted its time and energy to activities related to our nation's struggle to “make the world safe for democracy.”
During the severe depression that engulfed our country in the late 1920s, the Chapter found it increasingly difficult to maintain that building properly. Another new roof was required in 1932, and after that expenditure the members realized that the burden of upkeep had become more than they could bear.
Finally, with the sadness that today's members still feel, the dear old building was sold for token payment to the City of Camden in 1933 with the understanding that it would be maintained as a relics museum.
In order to provide employment for a few among the many who could not find work at the time, it was used instead for a coffin and mattress factory. The relics left in the building by the Chapter, intended for the museum, disappeared, and all efforts to recover them, including public appeals in newspapers, were to no avail. In 1935 the building was bought from the City of Camden by Kershaw Lodge No. 29, Ancient Free Masons for $300.”
—LOUISE KNOWLTON SWIFT, Historian, Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR, Camden, South Carolina
Modern Photo, Courtesy of MAPQUEST
The Lodge sold the building to the Kershaw County Chamber of Commerce in 1999. In 2006, the Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR, installed a commemorative plaque to honor the founding members for rescuing the building. The plaque reads “The Hobkirk Hill Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, rescued this revered old building from demolition in 1908. The members restored and maintained the building they called Chapter Hall until 1933 when ownership of the building was given to the City of Camden. Placed by Hobkirk Hill Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 2006
Hobkirk Hill Chapter, NSDAR
DISCLAIMER: The content contained herein does not necessarily represent the position of the NSDAR.
Hyperlinks to other sites are not the responsibility of the NSDAR, the state organization, or individual DAR chapters.