• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SC Picture Project

The purpose of the South Carolina Picture Project is to celebrate the beauty of the Palmetto State while preserving some of its vanishing landscapes.

  • FIND A LANDMARK
    • BY CITY
    • BY COUNTY
    • BY CATEGORY
    • BYGONE LANDMARKS
  • ADD IMAGES
  • VOLUNTEER
  • SPONSORS
  • DONATE

Bonneau Ursula Morrison McGillivray House

SC PICTURE PROJECT 2 Comments

SC Picture Project / Charleston County / Bonneau Ursula Morrison McGillivray House

This McCellanville home, which overlooks Jeremy Creek, was built in 1899 (1) for Bonneau Ursula Morrison McGillivray (1877-1945), daughter of Richard Tillia Morrison, II and his wife, Eliza Abigail Toomer. Morrison was one of McClellanville’s founding fathers. He and town namesake Archibald McClellan subdivided their plantations – Jeremy Plantation and Pointe Plantation, respectively – and sold the lots to wealthy planters for summer homes. After the Civil War, many former planters permanently moved into burgeoning villages such as McClellanville to restart their lives as merchants.

Ursula Morrison House

Gazie Nagle of Charleston, 2014 © Do Not Use Without Written Consent

Bonneau (2) – or “Nonie” as she was called – lived here with her husband, Dr. Hugh Swinton McGillivray (1871-1960), whom she married in 1899. Born in Charleston to Elizabeth Gready Ward and Alexander Chanler McGillivray. Dr. McGillivray was a descendant of Alexander McGillivray, a Scottish ship captain who helmed slavers (ships that transported enslaved people abducted from Africa) during the mid-1700s (3). A family history written by Dr. McGillivray holds that Alexander’s brother, Lachlan McGillivray, left Charleston and settled in the Savannah area. Lachlan, he writes, married an Indian princess and their son, also named Alexander McGillivray, became the famous chief of the Creek Nation who led the tribe into battle and negotiated treaties with Washington. This is a matter of debate, however, and some say there is no reliable evidence that Alexander and “Lachlan Lia,” as he was known, were brothers (3).

In 1893 Dr. McGillivray graduated from the College of Charleston. He received his doctorate from the University of Goettingen in Germany under Lorenz Morsbach and authored The Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary of Old English. A respected scholar, Dr. McGillivray taught at Converse College and The Old Citadel. He also served as chairman of the English department at Charleston High School (4). After retiring he taught at the Confederate Home and College in Charleston. A published poet, he was elected president of the Poetry Society of Charleston. After Nonie McGillivray’s death in 1945, Dr. McGillivray married Margaret Gibbs Taylor.


As a side note, Nonie’s nephew, William McGillivray Morrison (5), served from 1947 through 1959 as the 57th mayor of Charleston. Her brother, Henry Toomer Morrison, was Mayor Morrison’s father.

The Bonneau Ursula Morrison McGillivray House has undergone at least two restorations, one in 1950 and another in 2007, and remains a private residence. It is listed in the National Register as part of the McClellanville Historic District:

The McClellanville Historic District contains a collection of approximately 105 residential, commercial, religious and educational properties dating from ca. 1860 to ca. 1935. This collection is architecturally significant as an illustration of the founding of a pineland resort village and its development into a small but stable year-round commercial fishing village. McClellanville began in the late 1850s as a summer retreat for St. James Santee and Georgetown planters.

The prevailing vernacular forms, especially the central hall farmhouse, predominated in early McClellanville architecture, although the more fashionable architectural styles began to receive attention and can be seen throughout the town: Carpenter Gothic, Queen Anne, and Italianate with a rare Colonial Revival example. The commercial strip developed in the early 20th century and [is] of frame construction built directly on the road. The historic district is visually unified by the nearly ubiquitous wooden frame construction, by the consistent scale of the house, lots, and their relation to the banks of the creek, by the tremendous live oak trees that permeate the town, and by the relative absence of contemporary commercial intrusions.

Bonneau Ursula Morrison McGillvray House: Sources


1. The National Register gives the construction date of the Bonneau Ursula Morrison McGillvray House as 1899 in one place and 1920 in another. Other sources, such as McClellanville and the St. James, Santee Parish say 1920. Nonie was born in 1877 and married in 1899 at age 22. The 1899 date would make sense if the home were built as part of a dowry.




 

2. Please note that Nonie’s given name was Bonneau Ursula as noted on her gravestone. Many sources incorrectly call her Ursula Bonneau.

3. The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Charleston, 1916, p. 9.

4. Amos J. Wright, The McGillivray and McIntosh Traders: On the Old Southwest Frontier 1716-1815, NewSouth Books, Montgomery, 2007, pps. 57, 58, 281.


5. Sara Brown, a Morrison family descendant, provided this info. Her grandmother, Sada Morrison Barrett, was the sister of William Morrison. Sada and William’s father, Henry Toomer Morrison, was Nonie’s brother.

6. Bud Hill, founder of the Village Museum in McClellanville, provided much of the information on this page.

Plan Your Trip: Bonneau Ursula Morrison McGillivray House

Where is Bonneau Ursula Morrison McGillivray House located?
Address: 102 Oak Street, McClellanville, SC 29458
GPS Coordinates: 33.084078,-79.464926
What else should I see?
A.O. Atkinson House 0.2 mile
St. James-Santee Episcopal Church 0.3 mile
H.M. Lofton, Jr. House 0.3 mile
Deerhead Oak 0.4 mile
Show me more like this!
  • See other South Carolina Historic Houses
  • McClellanville Historic Sites
  • See other South Carolina National Register
    Bonneau Ursula Morrison McGillivray House Map

    Please Help Us Stay Online

    We’d like thank everyone who generously supports the South Carolina Picture Project. You provide us with the inspiration and financial support we need to keep doing what we do. Every reader’s contribution, larger or small, is valuable. If you have enjoyed this website or found it helpful, please pitch in. Each donation helps – and it only takes a minute. Thank you!

    Support the SC Picture Project!

    $ 50.00
    Select Payment Method
    Personal Info

    Credit Card Info
    This is a secure SSL encrypted payment.

    Donation Total: $50.00

    You may also like

    You may also like

    Hampton PlantationHampton Plantation McClellanville SignMcClellanville William Beckman HouseWilliam P. Beckman House Wade Hampton Graham HouseWade Hampton Graham House Ludwig Armstrong Beckman HouseLudwig Armstrong Beckman House

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sara Brown says

      May 22, 2019 at 12:35 PM

      Just a small correction: William McGillivray Morrison was NOT Nonie McGillivray’s brother. She was his aunt. William Morrison was the brother of Sada Morrison Barrett, my grandmother. Their father was Henry Toomer Morrison who was Nonie’s brother.

      Reply
      • SC Picture Project says

        May 22, 2019 at 11:32 PM

        Thank you so much for your help, Sara. We have made the correction and credited you under our sources!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    FIND A LANDMARK

    Why This Site Matters

    Help Keep This Site Online

    We depend on the support of today’s readers to document South Carolina’s landmarks for future readers. Please help us continue this important work by making a donation below.

    $ 50.00
    Select Payment Method
    Personal Info

    Credit Card Info
    This is a secure SSL encrypted payment.

    Donation Total: $50.00

    Recent Posts

    • H.L. Hunley
    • Strand Theater
    • Camden Depot
    • Charleston City Marina
    • Secession Hill

    ABOUT US

    We are a federally-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to preserve the history of South Carolina’s historic, natural, and cultural landmarks before they are lost to time. This website serves as a permanent digital archive of over 2,300 South Carolina landmarks – and counting. Learn more about our work.

    Footer

    ABOUT US

    We are a federally-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works to preserve the history of South Carolina’s historic, natural, and cultural landmarks before they are lost to time. This website serves as a permanent digital archive of over 2,300 South Carolina landmarks – and counting. Learn more about our work.

    CONTACT US

    We’d love to hear from you! Send us a quick email at share@scpictureproject.org.

    If you are looking for permission to use a photo, please reach out directly to the photographer listed in the image’s credit.

    JOIN US ON FACEBOOK

    The South Carolina Picture Project has two Facebook groups. One is dedicated to SC Historic Landmarks and Iconic Landscapes, and the other is dedicated to SC Nature and Wildlife.

    South Carolina Picture Project © 2022 · All Rights Reserved