Post # 5 ~ Quality of Life in Hamburg

Building a Better Hamburg

Though busy earning a living, H. L. Jeffers’ involvement in local civic affairs kept apace. The first example I found was his participation, in 1831 at age 23, with other church members in a petition to the State Legislature for land to build a Baptist Church in Hamburg. 

Detail of 1831 Petition to the South Carolina General Assembly,

for land in Hamburg to build a Baptist Church. SC Archives

Henry often spearheaded official efforts to petition the state for aid, always with the goal of improving life in Hamburg: preventing cholera, incorporating the town, erecting a guard house, appointing law enforcement, regulating lawless traders, building roads.

Throughout his years in Hamburg, Henry L. Jeffers' name showed up in the local

newspapers. I can picture his young family proudly reading the mentions. Even while still a young man, Jeffers won elections as a Warden (city-councilman) in Hamburg. He was appointed as a delegate, along with gray-beards like Henry Schulz, to the Merchants Conventions. He banded with politically like-minded merchants, organizing Whig party rallies for presidential candidate William Henry Harrison. (That was a long battle during the 1836 and 1840 elections. The same "Whiggish" effort was kept up during every nullification and secession debate in SC. Hopefully I’ll write more about it in the future.)

In 1844 the SC General Assembly named Jeffers one of five Commissioners to oversee the regulation of tobacco exports, stipulating that in no case should the Commissioners “cause any Tobacco offered for inspection to be burnt, as heretofore authorized.” Henry Jeffers was a good choice; I can’t imagine him burning a planter’s tobacco crop. During a season of general financial down-turn in 1845, The Edgefield Advertiser commended him as a leading merchant who won Hamburg’s gratitude by acting to keep corn prices low. The Keowee Courier editors put in a plug for him in 1849, recommending him to their readers as having “established a very enviable reputation as a Commission Merchant.” 

All of that is very nice. No doubt the earnest merchants of Hamburg made progress in civilizing this raw market-town. But what I would like to know: did the kids have any fun? Well, of course. This town "belonged" to bombastic Proprietor Henry Shultz. In addition to the excitement of crowded, jostling streets, and to the natural delights of childhood in a rural village, the Jeffers children had wonders to see - dazzling displays, cannonading,  entertainment - events hosted by Henry Shultz, who always referred to himself as the “Founder and Proprietor” of Hamburg. He worked tirelessly to promote his town (and himself). He arranged big parades through the streets; he hosted picnics at his mansion overlooking the town; he brought in "his band" and a devoted local militia of "noble volunteers." 

 A devoted local militia, c 1830. LOC

The accounts of these Shultz-festivals are worth a future post of their own - but here I will simply give an excerpt:

From The Edgefield Advertiser, 1840-03-12: 

A splendid coach, drawn by four white horses, was provided, in which were the Hon. Intendant [Shultz] and Wardens of Hamburg [Henry Jeffers was one], thus representing the able and distinguished Committee, who had been nominated, and reported so favorably in relation to the trade between Charleston and Hamburg; all of whom were enlivened by the Hamburg band of musicians, as they played several appropriate national airs….

[T]he well manned cannon, on the magnificent heights, poured forth a deafening sound, awakening up many lingering thoughts of hope, soon to be realized by the unconquerable enterprise of him, who engaged our thoughts and good wishes. Animosities were laid aside and forgotten, and peace and friendship stept forth to fill the void.

A hearty welcome being given, Mr. Schultz seated himself in the coach with the aforesaid members, was escorted through the principal streets by our noble Volunteers, all of whom moved to the enlivening airs of the Hamburg Band, and proceeded to his mansion, where bountiful refreshments had been provided by some of Mr. Schultz’s friends, for the occasion. The sparkling glass passed around with numerous appropriate toasts. Among these was...

"Charleston and Hamburg, S. C. - May they ever be united like the Siamese Twins, and may the great natural cord that connects them, be the Rail Road."

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Alas, the boom-town phenomenon that was Hamburg did not last. Hamburg declined; by 1860 the Jeffers family had moved to a village near Abbeville. I wondered if the Jeffers’ Civil War letters, in spite of the all-consuming topic of the conflict, would contain any memories of their childhood years in Hamburg. Yes, just a bit. Spann recalled to Gussie, “...as I cherish in memory the rambles, frolics, and adventures of childhood so do I cherish in affection the Sister who was my companion.” Tommie spoke in another letter of  brother Henry’s visit to the Hamburg area: “...it must have brought to mind some sad feelings to find the old place, where we have all spent so many pleasant days together, sinking into decay...”

 William Henry Jeffers and Thomas Anderson Jeffers c 1853 (ages 17 and 14)

The Jeffers family’s life-long experiences coincided with rapid changes in the history of South Carolina: technological and commercial advances, the upheaval of war, and the struggle of Reconstruction. Their early years in Hamburg fueled them with optimism to persevere through hard years ahead. Hamburg was a strange place in a strange time - but somehow it was a place where things seemed possible - where a man was not confined to being a blacksmith if he wanted something more. Hamburg did not exist for very long, as towns go. But there they all were, given a chance to do well -  the father working like crazy to build something out of nothing, and the young ones growing up in an exciting place, a bustling marketplace with an edge of roughness, that burst into life almost overnight.

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