1764 Garden Design - A Son in Scotland Advises His Father in Hyde Park, NY on Pleasure Gardens

19C Hyde Park by Victor de Grailly (French artist, 1804-1889)

Along the east side of the Hudson River in Dutchess County, New York, Peter (Pierre) Fauconnier (1659–1746), received a 3,600-acre tract of property located on the banks of the river 75 miles north of New York City. He named it Hyde Park after the Governor of New York, Sir Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury (1661–1723).  Peter came to America as the private secretary to Edward Hyde, the 3rd Earl of Clarendon whose cousin, Queen Anne, had appointed him Governor of New York & New Jersey. In 1705.

Governor of New York, Sir Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury (1661–1723)

The undeveloped property descended through Fauconnier’s family until 1764. Peter Fauconnier owned Hyde Park from 1705–1746. His daughter Magdalene Fauconnier Valleau 1746–1764 inherited the land at her father's death. In 1764, the river-front land was inherited by his granddaughter, Suzanne Valleau (1720–1784), & her husband, the New York City surgeon Dr. John Bard (1715–1799). At Dr. Bard's death, the property passed on to the son who advised his father, Dr. Samuel Bard (1799–1821.) 

Peter (Pierre) Fauconnier (1659–1746) Private Secretary to Edward Hyde, the Earl of Clarendon 

Dr. John Bard (1715–1799) initially contemplated developing the land that he had inherited into a rural country seat & settling there after retiring from his medical practice in New York City. He received advice on “laying out your grounds” & “planning a pleasure ground” from his son, Samuel Bard (1742–1821), a medical student in Edinburgh who was well versed in contemporary landscape design in Britain & Scotland. 

New York surgeon Dr.  John Bard (1715–1799), the father in Hyde Park, NY 

Samuel Bard's, April 1, 1764, letter from Edinburgh to his father Dr. John Bard “I heartily wish I could be with you at laying out your grounds, as I imagine I could be of some assistance, although I may find it impossible to convey my notions upon that subject in writing. From what I have as yet seen, I find those the most beautiful where nature is suffered to be our guide. The principal things to be observed in planning a pleasure ground, seem to me, to be the situation of the ground, & the storms & winds the country is most liable to. By the first, I mean, to distribute my plants according to the soil they most delight in; to place such as flourish most in a warm exposure & dry soil, upon the sunny side of a hill; while such as delight in the shade &moist ground, should be placed in the vallies. By this single precaution, one of the greatest beauties of a garden is obtained, which consists in the health & vigour of the plants which compose it. By considering well the predominant winds & storms of the country, we are directed where to plant our large trees, so that they shall be at once an ornament, & afford a useful shelter to the smaller & more delicate plants. Next I think straight lines should be particularly avoided except where they serve to lead the eye to some distant & beautiful object—serpentine walks are much more agreeable. Another object deserving of attention seems to be, to place the most beautiful & striking objects, such as water, if possible, a handsome green-house, a grove of flowering shrubs, or a remarkably fine tree, in such situations, that from the house they may almost all be seen; but to a person walking, they should be artfully concealed until he suddenly, & unexpectedly, comes upon them; so that by the surprise, the pleasure may be increased: & if possible, I would contrive them so that they should contrast each other, which again greatly increases their beauty. The last thing I should mention, which, indeed, is not the least worthy of notice, is, to throw the flower garden, kitchen, & fruit garden, & if possible, the whole farm, into one, so that they may appear as links of the same chain, & may mutually contribute to the beauties of the whole. If you could send me an accurate plan of the situation of your ground, describing particularly the hollows, risings, & the opportunities you have of bringing water into it, the spot where you intend your house, & the situation of your orchard, I would consult some of my friends here about a proper plan, & I believe I know some who would assist us, & as I cannot obtain your gardener before November, if you sent the plan immediately, I shall be able to return it by him.” 

Financial worries led the NYC surgeon to try to sell the land. Only 4 years later, John Bard decided to offer his property for sale, May 12, 1768, New York advertisement offering sale of Hyde Park.  “To be sold by the subscriber, living in New-York, either all together, or in distinct farms, a tract of land in the county of Dutchess, & province of New-York, called Hyde Park, or Paulin’s Purchase... containing 3600 acres. The tract in general is filled with exceeding good timber...& abounds in rich swamps; great part of the upland exceeding good for grains or grass, & has on it some valuable improvements...A Large Well -Improved Farm, with a good house, a large new barn, a young orchard of between 500 or 600 apple trees, mostly grafted fruit, & in bearing order; between 30 & 50 acres of rich meadow ground, fit for the scythe; & about 150 acres of upland cleared & in tilling order. There is belonging to the said tract, 3 good-landing-places (particularly one on the above farm) where the largest Albany sloop can lay close to a large flat rock, which forms a natural wharf.” Eventually he decided not to sell the property.

 Dr. Samuel Bard (1742–1821) the son studying to become a physician abroad

The young son Samuel Bard had developed his interest in plants & botany some time before sailing across the Atlantic for his formal medical education. Several years before traveling to England, the New York surgeon's ailing 14-year-old son Samuel spent a summer at the farm of his father’s friend Cadwallader Colden (1688-1776) who was a physician, a botanist, a lieutenant governor & acting Governor for the Province of New York. Here young teen Samuel Bard received instruction in botany from Colden & his daughter Jane (1724–1766), both of whom had mastered Carl Linnaeus’s system of plant classification while cataloging indigenous New York flora. Jane Colden was one of the the first female botanist working in America. An accomplished draftsman, the young Bard reportedly “repaid the lady for her instruction, by making figures & drawings of plants for her."

When young Samuel Bard landed in London in the spring of 1762, he began a course of medical instruction under the Quaker physician, philanthropist, & plant collector John Fothergill (1712–1780), & devoted his summers to botanical investigations in the countryside.

In 1764, after transferring to the University of Edinburgh, Bard received an award in botany from John Hope (1725–1786), Professor of Botany & Materia Medica & King’s Botanist, for producing “the best herbarium or collection of dried plants, growing spontaneously within ten miles of Edinburgh.” In addition to combing Scotland's countryside for plants, the student Bard toured local estates studying landscape & garden design. His father soon asked him to find a gardener there to help lay out the grounds of his father’s Hudson river estate, Hyde Park.

When Dr. John Bard's son Samuel returned to New York, the young man had spent 5 years in France, England, & Scotland, finally receiving his M.D. at the University of Edinburgh in May 1765. On his return to New York, he found his father in debt for his overseas education, which had cost more than 1000 pounds. New physician Samuel entered into partnership with his surgeon father, & for 3 years drew nothing beyond his expenses from the profits of the medical business, amounting to 1,500 a year.

On his Hyde Park property, in 1772, Dr. John Bard built a house along the east side of the Albany Post Road also known as the “Red House,” & a second residence across the road known as Bard Cottage. He also maintained a farm, mills, a store, & 3 boat landings along the Hudson, the southerly one known as Hyde Park Landing & the northerly called Bard’s Rock.

In 1784, after an innovative & esteemed medical career in New York City, Dr. John Bard sought the retiring, pastoral life often longed-for by those of his position & generation. Dr. John Bard had been raised in privileged circumstances, on a farm estate near Philadelphia. He was a close acquaintance of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) & enjoyed a well-earned professional reputation in medicine, but he felt it was time to retire.. 

While participating in the cultural activity of New York City, Dr. John Bard had a deep-rooted appreciation for plants & country life. As a medical practitioner, he had a direct involvement with medicinal botany & horticulture. But he longed for the bucolic charms of Hyde Park as an ideal situation, somewhat removed from the basic economic & functional pre-occupation of earlier Hudson River estate owners. In fact, he had on-going financial difficulties & his aspirations for Hyde Park were tempered by the reality of his financial situation. His ornamental landscape improvements were limited. 

In 1795, Dr John Bard, then being in his 80th year, gave an address before the state medical society calling attention to the presence of yellow fever in the city, meeting much opposition & some vehemently expressed disapproval, by so doing. Nevertheless, his advice as to treatment of this dread disease-sweating the patient-proved more successful than other methods. In 1798 he gave up his medical practice & retired to Hyde Park where he died, March 30, 1799, at the age of 83.

Dr. Samuel Bard’s Residence. Hyde Park, 1871, watercolor copy of a drawing of c. 1800–23

In 1799 New York surgeon Dr. John Bard left the 1,500-acre core of the estate to his son, Dr. Samuel Bard (1742–1821.) The younger Bard was responsible for establishing the formal residential grounds, known as the park, on the river side of the Post Road, leaving the land to the east including the “Red House” as the estate farm. He built a mansion on the terrace overlooking the Hudson Valley.

An English print of a seemingly exhausted Dr. Samuel Bard (1742-1821)

Dr. Samuel Bard developed his home at Hyde Park while in his mid-50's, when his taste was well established. The house, an elegant Federal style structure was intentionally planned to sit away from his father's farm complex & "Red House." The more formal new house was sited at the edge of the escarpment, at a point that protrudes, allowing a 180 degree prospect to the west. The selection of this location is indicative of a Federal period interest in dramatic houses & powerful sitings on the the hills above rivers. From this location, one could see look out to the boats & travelers passing by on the river & the bright white structure could also be seen by those passing by. This preference in siting houses was in fashion for at least a quarter century. Later a blatantly exposed mansion house would be considered ostentatious. 

Dr. Samuel Bard (1742-1821) is considered, along with his father Dr. John Bard & Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia, one of the leading physicians of the colonial & early federal periods. But Bard was also very interested in the study of botany.  While his father was more interested in the commercial potential of the family estate in Hyde Park, Samuel indulged his love of plants & botany there. Always looking for agricultural improvements, in 1806 he founded the Dutchess County Agriculture Society, serving as its president for many years & using his position to advocate for the use of clover as a crop & gypsum as a fertilizer. Samuel enjoyed landscaping the more formal grounds of his estate, & he set about planting exotic plants & trees. There is a large Ginko tree on the lawn, that he is said to have planted in 1799, which would make it one of the oldest in North America. The greenhouse he built in 1820 is said to have been the 1st in Dutchess County.

19C Engraving by artist E. White of the Hudson River as seen from Hyde Park 

After positioning his house, Dr. Samuel Bard laid out the kitchen gardens, & later the greenhouse about 1,000 feet south of the house on a sheltered south facing slope. In selecting this location, Samuel Bard was following his own, early advice to his father, expressed in a 1764 letter, to consider the best advantage of the natural site in placing the various site components: "The principal thing to be observed in planning a pleasure ground, seems to me to be the situation of the ground, & the storms & winds, the country is most liable to." 

Said to be Dr Samuel Bard (1742-1821) Actually looks like a young depiction of his father.

During the early years of his return to New York, he established a medical school at King’s College. now Columbia University. In 1769 he began lobbying for the city’s 1st public hospital. In Britain, Bard’s friend & mentor, John Fothergill, spearheaded fundraising for the hospital there, & King George III granted it a charter in 1771; but the Revolutionary War intervened. When the hospital was finally completed in 1791, Bard reportedly laid out a botanic garden at the hospital occupying 2 city blocks, in which he cultivated medicinal herbs. Bard also served as one of George Washington's private physicians, saving his life in 1789 by removing a malignancy from his leg. In 1811, College of Physicians & Surgeons was founded in New York, Bard was appointed its president, serving in that capacity until his death in 1821.

Garden Design - Furniture travels from England to the Colonies & the Early Republic

As the British American colonies became more secure & furniture became more plentiful in the early 18th century, colonists often moved routine daily chores outdoors as soon as the weather allowed. Preparing vegetables & fruits; churning butter; washing, spinning & sewing; studying schoolwork; and practicing musical instruments all became outdoor activities during the hot, humid summers along the shores of the Atlantic.

In this painting, household chairs and tables are carried outdoors.  1738 William Hogarth, (English artist, 1697-1764) The Hervey Converstion Piece - The Holland House Group

Traditionally the formal pleasure gardens of the British gentry, living in servant-laden households, had served as pleasure grounds for promenading, playing at games & sport, meditating, romancing, or entertaining.  It is clear from English paintings, that even the gentry were using their household furniture outdoors.

In this portrait, the wife sits on a garden bench.  1763 Arthur Devis (English artist, 1712-1787) Francis Vincent, his Wife Mercy, and Daughter Ann, of Weddington Hall, Warwickshire. Detail
18th Century English Woodcut

By mid-century, the up-to-date colonial gardener knew that the latest taste dictated placing seats & benches to emphasize a focal point in the garden; to terminate an impressive vista on the property; to view the garden or an impressive vista; or to catch a cooling breeze under trees or by the water.

As early as 1669, English garden writer John Worlidge had instructed his readers in Systema Agriculturae that proper garden seats should be placed "at the ends of your walks...that whilst you sit in them you will have the view of your garden."

Here the gentleman sits on a bench which is clearly placed at a focal point in his garden.  1749 Arthur Devis (English artist, 1712-1787) The Thomas Cave Family

In his 1718 garden writings, Stephen Switzer, Iconographia Rustica or the Nobleman, Gentleman and Gardeners' Recreation makes a direct reference to the Windsor chair. By 1730, a London newspaper advertisement offered for sale "All sorts of Windsor Garden Chairs."
Like their less wealthy neighbors, colonial gentry usually carted common chairs outside, whenever the weather permitted. Gardens & yards served as welcome extensions of cramped indoor living spaces. Small, close living quarters were the rule in the colonies, even for the rich in the first decades of the 18th century, and this encouraged a variety of sedentary outdoor leisure activities across all classes such as doing chores, chatting, reading, gambling, & eating.

Scenes from a Seminary for Young Ladies. St. Louis Art Museum.
Colonials needed something to sit on & something to put things on, indoors & out. Common household furniture including chairs, benches, & tables regularly found their way outdoors. Most British American colonials looked for some balance between the functional & the ornamental. The ordered, geometric gardens of the gentry in the colonies were a combination of ornament & function. Most colonists, even the wealthy Charles Carroll in Annapolis, grew edible plants in their formal terraced garden parterres.

Here the lady of the family sits in a Windsor type chair.  1749 Arthur Devis (English artist, 1712-1787) Mr and Mrs Van Harthals and Son
As the consumer revolution reached full-tilt mid-century, British American colonial gentry occasionally ordered special garden furniture from local craftsmen or from English factors. Garden furniture was part of the competitive furniture trade in England. Most furniture designers offered a few examples in their style books. Although Thomas Chippendale's furniture stylebook was the most influential of the period, enraver and London furniture designer Matthew Darly, who flourished between 1754 & 1778, seemed to have led the way toward this new design.

This tables & chairs sit far from the house in this painting.  1750 Arthur Devis (English artist, 1712-1787) Henry Fiennes Clinton, 9th Earl of Lincoln, with his wife Catherine and his son George on the great terrace at Oatlands

Always searching for the latest trend in the mid 1700s, British tastemakers were drawn to rustic or "forest" furniture style for their new natural gardens. No more of the stiff classic benches dotting those old-fashioned Dutch influenced William & Mary English formal gardens.

The 1761 3rd edition of Thomas Chippendale's The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, contained a single plate called "Designs for Garden Seats," engraved by Matthew Darly, of rococo French chair with a possible rustic leg, a gothic French settee, and a "grotto chair." Matthew Darly was a London printseller, furniture designer, and engraver who owned a very successful print shop with his wife Mary.

1773 Edward Smith (English artist) An Angling Party (perhaps The Willyams Family at Carnanton)

Even though English garden designers would soon be rebelling against the French and Dutch formal influence in the gardens of the gentry, Chippendale and Darly were introducing a fairly formal serpentine and rococo into the garden with these design patterns. Matthew (also called Mathias) Darly earlier had designed "root chairs and tables," whimsical garden furniture to be made out of gnarled roots, for Edwards and Darly, A New Book of Chinese Designs published in 1754.

In his 1765 design book The Cabinet and Chair-maker's Real Friend and Companion, English furniture designer Robert Manwaring described his garden seat designs, "designs given for rural Chairs for Summerhouses finely ornamented with Carvings, Fountains, and beautiful Landscapes, with the Shepherd and his flock, reaper, etc. Also, some very beautiful designs, supposed to be executed with Limbs of Yew, Apple, or Pear Trees, ornamented with Leaves and Blossoms, which if properly painted will appear like Native."

Manwaring's 1765 Rural Garden Seat design included classical busts as finials on the back posts. The basic Gothic design incorporated many of painter William Hogarth's serpentine curves. Hogarth had published a treatise on esthetics in 1753, The Analysis of Beauty, which promoted the serpentine curve as the true "line of beauty."

An 1735 inventory of Andrew Allen at Goose Creek, South Carolina did record "an Old Forest Chair." It is not clear whether this refers to one of the simple outdoor chairs which were known in England as forest chairs, or whether "forest" referred to the (beech) forests of the English the Chilterns where many of them were produced or to the shades of green in which they were painted.

There were also a few less practical "designer" forest garden chairs available in Britain.
One of Matthew Darly's root designs.

Life in the colonies was difficult, where many grew old & infirm quickly. For those who could not yet walk or no longer stroll & strut around their grounds, there was the "garden machine" or "rolling chair." A depiction of a "Garden Machine" appeared at the top of a trade card in late 18th century London, which also advertised "all Sorts of Yew Tree, Gothic, and Windsor Chairs."

In the last quarter of the century, two South Carolina inventories each boasted "1 Mahogany Roling Chair." Focusing on the special needs of the elderly and the infirm, Charleston cabinetmaker Thomas Elfe advertised in 1751, that he made "All kinds of Machine Chairs...for sickly or weak people."

1751 John Hesselius (1728-1778). The Grymes Children- Lucy Ludwell Grymes 1743-1830, Philip Ludwell Grymes 1746-1805, John Randolph Grymes 1747-96, & Charles Grimes 1748-?  They were the children of Phillip Grymes and his wife Mary Randolph who were born at "Brandon" on the Rappahannock River in Middlesex County, Virginia. In the year following this painting, another daughter, Susanna Grymes was born into the family. Similar rolling chairs are found in British paintings.

1747 Arthur Devis (English artist, 1712-1787) Richard, Mary, and Peter, Children of Peter and Mary du Cane Detail

In 1752, a South Carolinian offered his plantation on the Ashley River for sale including "several handsome garden benches." Many garden seats appear in colonial inventories with no specific description, making identification of the style of garden furniture impossible.

Here both mother & father have Windsor chairs. 1751 Arthur Devis (English artist, 1712-1787) The James Family

Two 1755 Charleston inventories of record each of the deceased owning 2 "garden chairs." In 1767, Charleston turner John Biggard specifically advertised that he could produce both "Windsor and Garden chairs." The difference is not spelled out, and without a sketch, it is difficult to know the particularity of each.

Scenes from a Young Ladies Seminary. St. Louis Art Museum.

After the Revolution, gardening burgeoned into a democratic pursuit, needing to satisfy both the functional & the ornamental goals of the new nation. Lightweight, orderly, simple windsor chairs--that could be used indoors or out--seemed to fill the bill & appealed to all levels of society in the new republic. Sensible, airy Windsor chairs, painted or stained, became the most popular garden furniture in America.

Green windsor garden chairs had been popular in the South well before the Revolution. At first, merchants offered imported chairs to their stylish customers. In the 1764 Charleston inventory of John McQueen was "1 Windsor Garden Seat." In 1766, Charleston merchants Sneed & White offered "Windsor Chairs ... and settees ... walnut ... fit for piazzas or gardens," imported Philadelphia.
18th Century English Woodcut

Aiming to cut out transportation costs & the middlemen, Philadelphia turner John Biggard moved to South Carolina in 1767, opening a "turner shop" advertising "Windsor and Garden chairs... cheaper than could be imported."

One 1775 Charleston inventory revealed 2 specialized windsors, "In the Passage...2 green Garden Windsor Chairs...2 Children do (garden Windsor Chairs)." Most inventories noted that the windsor chairs were painted green. The 1783 South Carolina inventory of Benjamin Cattell listed 12 green windsor chairs.

In this painting, the Windsor chairs are brought out to the statue in the garden.  1763 Johann Zoffany (German-born English painter, 1733-1810) The Mathew Family at Felix Hall, Kelvedon, Essex

A year later, inventory takers noted one dozen green windsor chairs in another Charleston entrance hall lined up like soldiers ready to see if their next engagement would be indoors or out. Charleston's leading professional gardener John Watson's 1789 inventory listed green windsor chairs in his seed sales room plus garden tools & books. On his piazza, he had 4 out of the ordinary teal benches & one normal green bench.

Outdoor windsors were often painted green to blend with nature. Englishman Uvedale Price wrote in his "Essays on the Picturesque" that white seats created unnatural spots in their green surroundings.

In this group portrait, the gentlemen have taken a variety of household furniture outdoors.  1780 Johann Zoffany (German-born English painter, 1733-1810) A Group of Gentlemen

Thomas Dobson's first American edition of his Encyclopedia or Dictionary of Arts and Science in Philadelphia in 1798, recommended, "To paint arbours and all kinds of garden work, give a layer of white ceruse grinded in oil of walnuts...then give two layers of green...This green is of great service in the country for doors, window shutters, arbours, gardens seats, rails either of wood or iron; and in short for all works exposed to the injuries of the weather."
Charleston wasn't the only city with a local supply of windsor chairs. In New York City, "a large and neat assortment of Windsor Chairs, made in the best and neatest manner, and well painted. Chairs and settees fit for piazza or garden." 

Detail 1772 William Williams (1727-1791). The William Denning Family

Marylander John H. Chandless advertised in the 1792, Baltimore Daily Repository "a large assortment of Windsor Chairs, of the newest fashions and painted in the best manner...Chairs, Settees, Garden Seats & Made and painted to particular directions." During the last decade of the 18C Baltimore furniture makers were arguably the best in the United States.

A rare surviving wooden bench is the late 18th century “Almodington Bench”, a diagonally slatted back design of yellow pine which was originally made for the Somerset County Maryland, plantation named “Almodington.” This is the oldest known piece of American garden furniture, which is now in the collection of the Museum of Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
1793 James Peale (1749-1831). The Ramsey-Polk Family in Cecil County, Maryland.

In the Virginia, inventories often listed "green chairs in the passage," meant to be used indoors & out. George Washington purchased 27 windsor side chairs for his piazza at Mount Vernon from Philadelphia Chairmakers Robert and Gilbert Gaw in 1796. The 1800 inventory of Mount Vernon recorded "in the Piazza...30 windsor Chairs."

Virginian John Randolph's Tagewell Hall included "5 green windsor chairs and one green settee belonging to my summer house." Mary Page of Spotsylvania County, Virginia ordered "one dozen Windsor Chairs for a passage."

In eastern North Carolina, David Stone's Hope Plantation contained 12 windsors in the hall passageway running from the front door to the back door, a design encouraging both air circulation & the moving of chairs in & out of doors.

Wooden chairs aged a little faster outdoors. In the Fayetteville North Carolina Minerva in 1796, Vosburgh & Childs advertised that they could make, paint, & repair Windsor chairs, probably the victims of a little rain and humidity now & again. Hall's North Carolina Wilmington Gazette on February 9, 1797, advertised "Windsor Chairs of every description...elegant settees of ten feet in length or under, suitable to either halls or piazzas...garden chairs suitable to arbors." A premature war between the North & the South was on as the ad noted, "those that are imported...are always unavoidably rubbed and bruised."

In this painting, the ladies sit on rather delicate chairs, while they gather around the pond to watch the gentlemen fish.  1770 Henry Benbridge (American colonial era artist, 1743-1812). The Tannatt Family

While in Wilmington, North Carolina, Eliza Clitherall recorded seats under trees in the more shady recesses of the Big Garden. William D. Martin recorded in his journal while visiting a "Girls Boarding School Pleasure Garden in Salem, North Carolina," Next I visited a flower garden...situated on a hill, ...At the bottom of this terrace were arranged circular seats, which, form the height of the hill in the rear were protected from the sun.
18th century English Woodcut.

In 1801, >Virginian Thomas Jefferson designed "benches for Porticos & Terraces...the back Chinese railing...to be painted green." Jefferson also noted "the seats at Washington by Lenox are 8 ft. long 21 I high, & the seat is 15 I broad, of five laths 2½ I wide." Peter Lenox (1771-1832) was the head carpenter, foreman, and clerk at the President's House in Washington, District of Columbia.
c 1796. Charles Fraser (1782-1860) Detail of Settee on a Hill at Rice Hope Plantation Taken from One of the Rice Fields. South Carolina.

Not all gardeners relied on the simple windsor chair for their gardens. A grey garden bench appears in the 1771 Charles Wilson Peale painting of the Edward Lloyd family of Wye House in Talbot County, Maryland. The bench had rolled arms and a latticed back. Peale wrote in his autobiography that in Pennsylvania, "The proprietor [Peale himself] made summer houses (so called), roots to ward off the Sunbeams with seats of rest. One made of the Chinese taste, dedicated to meditation, with the following sentiments within it. "Mediate on the Creation of Worlds, which perform their evolutions in prescribed periods!"
1771 Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) Edward Lloyd Family wife Elizabeth Tayloe and dau Anne.

For those not satisfied with ordinary wood furniture, both English & local craftsmen also fashioned cast iron garden furniture including chairs, benches, & tables during the early federal period. Weight would have been a consideration in importing them from England. The Robert Wood foundry in Philadelphia produced cast iron garden furniture between 1804 -1858.

In this painting, the American grandmother is clearly sitting in a Windsor chair.  1787 Henry Benbridge (American artist, 1743-1812). The Hartley Family.

Henry Benbridge painted stone garden seats in paintings of a Charleston family; the Enoch Edwards family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and the Taylor family of Norfolk, Virginia, during the last 2 decades of the 18C.

1779 Henry Benbridge (American artist, 1743-1812). The Enoch Edwards Family.

Whether these stone benches were real or fanciful is unclear. What is clear is that the dark green Windsor chair was the most enduring piece of garden furniture in practical 18th century America. The use of everyday chairs for garden events continued into the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Photo Maryland Historical Society

To follow the development, diversification, & distribution of Windson Chairs see any of these books by Nancy Goyne Evans, (2005) Windsor-Chair Making in America: From Craft Shop to Consumer; (1997) American Windsor Furniture: Specialized Forms; and (1996) American Windsor Chairs.

Labor - South Carolina Garden Contractors

Charles Fraser (1782- 1860). Mr. Gabriel Manigault's Seat at Goose Creek, 1802. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. The estate was called Steepbrook.

Independent Gardeners Working in South Carolina

Gardeners appear in South Carolina records in a variety of ways--deeds, estates, administration records, and newspapers. Often, the identification "gardener" is all that is available about these men. They don't place ads seeking work or advertising plants, but they should not be ignored.

1796. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). The Seat of Joseph Winthrop, Esq. on Goose Creek, South Carolina. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. Joseph Winthrop was married to Charles Fraser's older sister.  Thanks to South Carolina native Charles Fraser (1782 - 1860 ) we have a chance to see, through his eyes, the homes & gardens there as he was growing up. These were some of the gardens & grounds, that the independent gardeners listed here helped plant & tend. Although Fraser was primarily known for his miniature portraits, he created watercolors of historical sites, homes, & landscapes, while also working as a lawyer, historian, writer, & politician. Today, many of Fraser's works are housed & displayed in Charleston's Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art.

The first professional gardener on record in South Carolina was a Frenchman. Mathurin Guerin was a French Huguenot who took refuge in the province and requested to be naturalized as an English citizen under the act passed on March 10, 1697, designed to grant to all aliens that were inhabitants of the Province of South Carolina the same privileges as those persons born of English parents. Mathurin Guerin was a native of St. Nazaire, son of Pierre Guerin, and of Jeanne Bilbau. His wife was Marie Nicholas, daughter of Audre Nicholas and Francoise Dunot.

While Guerin may have been the first French Huguenot gardener in South Carolina, he certainly was not the last. French gardeners and seedsmen arrived in the Mid-Atlantic and upper south after the Revolutionary War. But in South Carolina, French gardeners influenced the gardening from the beginning of the 18th century. South Carolina saw a large influx of French Huguenots – individuals who were probably familiar with the garden designs of Le Nôtre. Garden designs in South Carolina continued to have a formal aspect well into the 19th century.

1803. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Ashley Hall near Charleston, South Carolina.The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. Fraser wrote in his Reminiscences that the oak trees were planted by a "visitor," Mark Catesby, who came to Carolina in 1722, and whose Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahama Islands was published in England a decade later.

More independent white gardeners appear in South Carolina records earlier than in the northern colonies. While most independent gardeners in the Mid-Atlantic and upper south worked in public gardens, fewer independent gardeners appear in the records at private properties in early Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia during the first half of the 18th century.

Charles Fraser (1782-1860). A Seat on the Ashely River, April, 1802. Carolina Art Association The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. This house is typical of much South Carolina & West Indies plantation architecture which have a basement story of masonry and upper floors of wood. The double stairway to the semi-classic porch is also very characteristic of this architecture.

South Carolina’s next gardener of record was Bartholomew Garret who was dead in 1719, when his widow Elizabeth (Major), originally of London, declared her “love and affection” for Thomas Hayward of Charleston.

Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Another View of Brabants. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina.

In the South Carolina Gazette of May 12, 1757, Henry Middleton placed a notice to settle the estate of his deceased gardener, George Newman.

The only knowledge of gardener Robert Hunter comes from his June 15, 1767 notice in the Gazette, "NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT frequent and repeated trespasses have been committed, at Mr. Daniel Cannon’s garden, up-the-Path, This is therefore to inform and forwarn all persons whatsoever, for the future, as they must expect to answer the consequences by a gun, or dog, or both. ROBERT HUNTER, Gardener."

In 1774, John Bert is identified as a gardener in a land transaction. George Reynolds is listed in the 1790 Charleston City Directory as a gardener at 42 George Street. He also appeared as a gardener in sureties and administrative settlements beginning in 1782.

Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Another View of Mepkin, May, 1803. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina.

Peter Boutiton was a feisty French gardener who also signed his name Pierre. He was active in the Charleston area from 1776, until his death in 1783. He married he widow Mary Air on January 9, 1777 at St. Philip’s. Mary Air was the granddaughter and heir of Charleston merchant, Peter Benoist. On July 21 of that year he placed the following notice in the Gazette of the State of South Carolina in Charleston, "PETER BOUTITON, Gardener, near and wit in the town gate, having suffered…frequent robberies of the produce of his hard labour, and greatly also by loss of rest, is watching by himself and two negroes, and frequent firing of guns, with no other intent than to deter the thieves-which not having answered his purpose-He now gives public notice and warning. That whoeverhereafter shall presume to enter his inclusures in the night, must do it at the risk of their lives.” Boutiton was identified as having been a gardener in Charleston during the settlement of his estate in 1783 ,and in South Carolina court records for several years thereafter.

1797. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Mrs. Robert Gibbe's Place on John's Island, South Carolina. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. The two sea-islands lying southwest of Charles Town were originally named after two parishes in the Barbadoes, St. James & St. John, but soon the locals were calling them simply James’ Island & John’s Island.

Anthony Farasteau was another French gardener. His was alternately listed as a gardener and a weaver in several land transactions and at the settlement of his estate, in the Charleston papers. He was active in Charleston records from 1776, until his death in 1785. Weavers often were also gardeners who grew their own dye plants.

William Kirkpatrick appeared in 1786 in the will of a friend mentioned as a gardener to the estate of the late Colonel Maurice Simons. Philip Hartz was also mentioned as a gardener in a will in 1788.

Charles Fraser (1782-1860). Another View of Richmond, May, 1803. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina.

Charles Gross was listed as a gardener in the 1790 Charleston City Directory at 152 King Street. He moved to Hampstead in 1792-1793 and began to garden and sell seed from there, until he died in 1802. Englishman James Sommers appears in the settlement of his estate after his death in 1794 as having been a gardener in Charleston. In his will he mentions being from Ilfondcombe in the County of Devon in England.

The will of gardener Robert Johnston noted that he came from Greenwill Street, Newtownards, Ireland, where he owned a house and land. Morris Conner was a gardener from St. Bartholomew’s Parish who died in testate in 1795. Elisha Diven was a gardener in Charleston in the same era. He is identified as a gardener in a 1797 estate proceeding and at his own death in 1798.

1796. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). A View of Mr. Lindsay's in Charleston, South Carolina, Taken from Savage's Green. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. In Fraser’s Reminiscences he states, “There was Savage’s Green at the lower end of Broad Street, which, until the building of the old Theatre, was entirely vacant, and spacious enough to be used for military exercise. The old battalion often paraded and fired their pieces there.” Fraser remarks that the end of Savage’s Green was a favorite swimming place for boys. Across the creek from the Green “was the town house of Mr. Thomas Ferguson, a large planter of the Parish of St. Paul, and a prominent leader of the Revolutionary party.. His house in Charles Town long bore the mark of a British cannon ball fired into the town in 1780.”

John Hope was listed as a gardener of Charleston at the administration of his estate upon his death in 1800. Neal McGregor (1773-1819) was a gardener who was born in Perthshire, North Britain in 1773, and immigrated to Charleston, sometime before his December 1802, marriage to Mrs. Jane Phipps. He was listed as a gardener in the 1809 Charleston City Directory and when he was naturalized in 1813. He and his wife lived on Vanderhorst Street in Charleston, until his death in 1819.

George Smith was a Charleston gardener who was born in Wicklow, Ireland, in 1784. He immigrated sometime before his 1810 Charleston marriage to Margaret Morgan in 1810. James Mair was a gardener who was born in Scotland in 1772. He immigrated to Charleston, and went into partnership with Robert Brown of Beaufort until 1801. He owned 779 acres of land on John’s Island and was listed in the 1809 Charleston City Directory as a gardener operating on King Street. He married Martha Graham, the youngest daughter of the then deceased Rev. William Graham in January of 1805, and he died in September of 1809. He was in partnership, until his death, with James Fraser, son of John Fraser, seedsman, nurseryman, and botanist of London.

Charles Fraser (1782-1860). The Seat of John Julius Pringle, Esq. on Ashley River, 1800. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. When the land was bought by John Julius Pringle in 1795, the Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt spent some time with him in Charleston. He wrote of a trip up the Ashley River to the new property, “We crossed the River, and stopped at a plantation lately purchased by Mr. Pringle, the former name of which was Greenville, but which he has named ‘Susan’s Place’ in honour of his lively wife…The new mansion…will be finished this summer.”

Samuel Anderson was also listed as a gardener of Hampstead in the Charleston City Directory and appeared in several Charleston County land transactions from that time on.

James Neswitt was noted to be a gardener of Charleston Neck in the administration of his estate in 1813. John Jarman is another gardener of Charleston identified through estate matters between 1805 and 1818.

And Daniel A. Stark was a gardener with wanderlust who preferred not to walk, according to a notice in the Charleston Times on April 19, 1819. "Caution. A MAN, who said his name was DANIEL A. STARK, and had been working as a Gardener for Mrs. Kennedy, at Gordon & Spring’s Ferry, absconded on Wednesday week last, taking with him a Gun, Shot-Bag and Powder-Flask; and on the next day a Horse belonging to Mrs. K. was missing."

Robert DuBois (1740-1823) who was also listed as a gardener in the 1809 Charleston City Directory, working out of King Street. At the time of his 1823 will, he was living at Charleston Neck in the forks of the road of King Street.

James Waddell was another South Carolina gardener and weaver originally from Ireland. He and his wife Ann, the widow of Benjamin Wood, appear in 1783 and 1785 estate matters. In 1798 and 1799, they appear in land records as residents of Charleston Neck and members of Christ Church parish. In 1804, Waddell conveyed 1,082 acres he owned on John’s Island. The City Gazette in Charleston on June 5, 1823 reported his death.

Charles Fraser (1782-1860) The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina.

Marmaduke Jenny was identified as a gardener “late of Charleston and the village of Washington” when he died in 1821.

Joseph Parsons (c1743-1823) was also listed as a gardener on Hampstead in the 1809 and 1813 Charleston City Directories. Parsons was born in Henrico County, Virginia. He married Alcey Goolsby in 1763 in Laurens, South Carolina, and served as an Indian spy in the Revolutionary War.

Joseph Parsons appeared in the records as a gardener in 1807, as the husband of Esther, the widow of Conrad Hook, a carpenter. They appeared in land records; until his death in 1823. His obituary in the City Gazette in Charleston on April 23, 1823 read, “Died, in the city on Monday, the 7th inst. after a long illness, Mr. Joseph Parsons, aged 40 years, formerly of Wiscasset, but for the last 20 years a resident of this state.” When he died, they were living in Hampstead “near Mr. Nell’s Rope-Walk.”.

1802. Charles Fraser (1782-1860). A View Near Charleston, South Carolina. The Carolina Art Association Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina. 

Fraser wrote, “A large part of Harleston (a village) and more especially the lots bordering upon the low ground and marches of Coming’s Creek, was nearly acquired by Mr. Thomas Bennett Sr., who, with Daniel Cannon, utilized the ebb and flow of the tides by establishing on these water large lumber mills. This tidal power was also used largely upon the rice-growing rivers for pounding mills, which separated the husk from the grain;…Nor was it only the waterpower which was utilized, for among the lots conveyed in 1804 by Thomas Bennett Sr. to Thomas Bennett, Jr., later Governor of South Carolina, was the lot of marshland on which the windmill stood near by a branch of Coming’s Creek.” 

In the Charleston Courier December 15, 1825, appeared a notice: “At Private Sale…that large Brick Wind Mill, situate on Harleston’s Green, adapted for the sawing of lumber. ” Windmills & watermills with vast undershot wheels, worked by the tides, were common in the neighborhood along the Ashley River.