Hartzell House

Built in the early 1790s, The Hartzell House in Cheraw is also known as the Sherman House, as it served as General Sherman’s headquarters while his troops occupied the town in March of 1865.

David Sides of Cheraw, 2013 © Do Not Use Without Written Consent

The home originally was a wedding present from General Erasmus Powe to his daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband, James. By the time of the Civil War, it was owned by General Powe’s granddaughter, Caroline, and her husband, Henry McIver, chief justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court. Legend has it that General Sherman was fond of the McIver children, and one day while one of the young boys was sitting on Sherman’s lap, the boy began feeling the general’s forehead. Having always heard adults say that General Sherman was the devil, the boy told Sherman that he was “looking for his horns.”

South Caroliniana Library, Works Progress Administration, 1930-1940

The Hartzell House is listed in the National Register in the Historic Cheraw District:

Around 1736 Welsh Baptists came to South Carolina and settled in the Pee Dee region. In 1766 Eli Kershaw, who had been given a grant of land along the Pee Dee River, laid out the town of Cheraw. It was incorporated in 1820. Located at a key navigational point, Cheraw began to develop as a commercial center of interior South Carolina; however, the Civil War and Reconstruction temporarily halted this progress. For a time development was impeded and rebuilding was delayed. Although the town eventually prospered, much of its physical character remained unaltered. The town of Cheraw also played an important role in South Carolina military history. During both the American Revolution and the Civil War, British and Union troops used St. David’s Episcopal Church as a hospital. The meeting house style church still stands today. Additionally in 1825, Revolutionary War figure Marquis de Lafayette stayed in Cheraw during his tour of the United States. Located within the district are a variety of architectural styles that include the early frame homes of the 1800s (often called upcountry farmhouses, or essentially I-House in type), antebellum structures with Classical Revival details and Greek Revival porticos, and Victorian houses from the turn of the century. The district also includes several churches, a cemetery, and the towns’ original boundary markers dating from 1766.