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Sumter....Looking Back “HOME FIELD” Photo and information by Alan Thigpen- This grand old house once stood just beyond the northern end of the Shaw AFB runway. Built around 1800 by Tyre Jennings, who died before 1839, the home transferred ownership to his brother, Hastin Jennings. In 1850, Hastin Jennings sold the home to Elisha Scott Carson. The home place became know as Carson Place after Elisha and his wife, Susan Marsh Carson, moved there form Charleston, South Carolina. However, the house got its name from a curcuit rider preacher who visited the Carsons only a couple of weeks after they moved in. The preacher asked them the name of the house. They replied they had not named it yet. He said they had made him feel so at home and the house was in the middle of a field, so he was going to call it “Home Field”. ¶ During the War Between the States records indicate a very sad tale associated with this home. James Marsh Carson, son of Elisha and Susan Carson, was reported as killed in action. His wife, Margaret Smythe Dukes Carson, was so grief stricken by this news that she soon thereafter died. However, at the end of the war, James returned home. He had not been killed, but captured and held in a Union prison camp. ¶ Other Carson descendents were an officer in the Spanish-American War and most notable a very well-known and beloved educator, Abbie Bryan. “Miss Abbie”, as many Sumterites of the baby-boomer era affectionately called her, retired from the public school system in 1954. After retiring she started a kindergarten in her home. Miss Abbie’s kindergarten, located on North Main Street, just north of Hill Plumbing Company, holds very fond memories for many, including the editor of this article. Miss Abbie died in 1981 at the age of 93. ¶ Miss Grace Carson was the last to live at Home Field. Miss Grace was ultimately COMPELED to enter a nursing home in the late 1960s and homefield then fell into complete ruin. About 1975 it was burned and completely destroyed by vandals. ¶ This 1905 photo shows Carson family members. They are not identified. If you know their identity, please contact us at the Trading Post. ¶ Alan Thigpen has graciously offered copies of this photograph for a nominal copying fee. If you would like a copy, contact Cary at The Trading Post, 494-3990. [1] |
1765 - 1824 (59 years)
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