South Carolina Department of Archives and History
National Register Properties in South Carolina

Judge Thomas Dawkins House, Union County (Dawkins Ct., Union)
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Facade Right Elevation Rear Elevation Main Entrance Entrance
Left Elevation

(The Shrubs) The Dawkins House, ca. 1845, served as the residence of Judge Thomas Dawkins, a well-known political leader in Union County. As a young lawyer who was a Unionist during the nullification controversy, Dawkins was surprisingly popular with his constituency. Despite his Unionist beliefs, he was elected to the state legislature. After the Civil War, Judge Dawkins served as a member of the state convention for the reorganization of the state government. In 1865, Dawkins was named to a committee that appealed to President Johnson for the release of Jefferson Davis, and in 1866 he served as chairman of the state judiciary committee of the House of Representatives. According to local tradition, the house was used for several days in February, 1865, as Governor Andrew G. Magrath’s headquarters for executing the affairs of the State. Governor Magrath had been forced to leave Columbia when General W. T. Sherman occupied and burned the city. The house is a two-story clapboard dwelling with a hipped metal roof. The five-bay wide veranda is enclosed by a balustrade and supported by six chamfered columns. Listed in the National Register April 23, 1973.

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