February 27, 2006

Protecting land and historic treasures takes a lot of hard work.
Frank and Raejean Beattie, owners of Hopsewee Plantation, know that only too well. To help them protect and preserve their home and land, they recently completed a conservation easement for the old plantation home and 21 acres surrounding the pre-Revolutionary War homesite.
The easement was given to the Lowcountry Open Land Trust (LOLT) based in Charleston.
“I have a vision of Hopsewee that I would like to survive, and I decided to perpetuate that vision by way of a conservation easement,” Beattie said in the living room of his home last Wednesday.
A National Historic Landmark, Hopsewee is the birthplace of Thomas Lynch Jr., one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
The Beatties are the fifth family to own the property since it was first established, sometime between 1733 and 1740.
The couple has continued a tradition begun by Jim and Helen Maynard, who opened their home in the early 1970s as a house museum.
On their website, www.hopsewee.com, the Beatties state: “Frank and his wife, Raejean, view their ownership of Hopsewee Plantation as a gift from God and a trust to the people of South Carolina and the United States.”
That vision led Beattie to ensure the land would not be developed for some commercial purpose. He's also battled with the S.C. Department of Transportation, which wants to replace the bridges for the nearby southbound lane of U.S. Highway 17.
Being a National Historic Landmark is good, Raejean Beattie says, but that doesn't really offer protection to the house or the property. “County and city regulations don't protect anything,” she adds. “The city or county government can change the regulations.
“Unless the individual property owner puts an easement on the property, it's without protection,” she continued. The National Historic Landmark designation “does not put any kind of restrictions on the property or the use of it.”
“Also, in my battle with the Highway Department,” Frank Beattie said, “I often met men and women face to face who had no appreciation whatsoever of history, preservation, natural beauty or the importance of preservation of the serene atmosphere — all of which enhance and support the quality of life.”
Private and government entities are often driven by large sums of money, he said, “and they are directed by people whose sole goal or aim is to generate income, regardless of the cost to the environment.” Often, he continued, when the cost to protect the environment gets too high, private individuals will say it's too big a job, let government do it.

Honor-bound

“I think each person is honor-bound to do what he or she can to defend and protect against threats that may arise in the future,” Frank Beattie said.
In 1969, the previous owners, the Maynards, traded their house on Meeting Street in Georgetown with Mrs. Reading Wilkinson for Hopsewee. The Maynards maintained their stewardship of the home and a few surrounding acres. Over their 31 years of ownership, they acquired a total of about 70 acres of the original plantation lands.
Numerous developers tried to buy the land from the Maynards, but they didn't want to sell it.
Beattie, an Aiken attorney who practiced law for some 40 years, heard in 2000 that the Maynards had sold the property. He stopped by Hopsewee to wish them well. Jim and Helen Maynard said no, they had not sold the home.
They said they wanted someone to have the property who would love it the way it had been for the past 260 years. Beattie purchased the land, taking on the responsibility of caring for Hopsewee. He has subsequently bought about 10 more acres, making a total of about 80 acres of land from the original plantation.
Since the home and property fronts on the North Santee River, a conservation easement helps fulfill the goal that many groups such as LOLT have. The land, trees and vegetation all help filter water, keeping impurities from running off into the river. That in turn helps protect the North Santee River and the waters of the Santee Delta.
Also, the 21 protected acres extend along U.S. 17 adjacent to the bridge, running back to Crow Hill Road and the entrance to the neighboring Oaks Plantation. The conservation easement means no one will be able to develop that land for about 1,000 yards or 3/5 of a mile. And, about 500 feet of frontage along the North Santee River is protected, too.

Charleston connections

Beattie said they wanted to give their easement to a local group, rather than one with headquarters and a main emphasis somewhere else.
“I identified the Open Land Trust as being composed of people who were more like ourselves,” wanting to maintain the land for its natural and historic qualities. Hopsewee has always had a connection to Charleston.
Thomas Lynch Sr. and Thomas Lynch Jr., as well as Thomas Lynch I, had homes at Hopsewee and at Charleston. They all were active in the colony of South Carolina, and later in the American Revolution. Thomas Lynch Sr. and Thomas Jr. were the only father-son delegates to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
The older Lynch suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in February 1776. He lived until December of that year, but was unable to sign the Declaration of Independence in July. A space was left on the document, however, for his signature.
Over the years, succeeding generations of the Lynch, Hume and Lucas families owned the land, growing indigo and later rice until the Civil War. Once that war ended, rice was not grown on the plantation again. Freed slaves continued living on the property, renting land where they grew other crops.
International Paper Co. bought the property in 1945, selling it to Col. Reading Wilkinson and his wife in 1947. After she was widowed and her children were grown, Mrs. Wilkinson made her trade with the Maynards in 1969.

Impressive organization

Beattie, quite conscious of that illustrious history of the house, the land and its owners, wanted to preserve that heritage.
“The Land Trust impressed me.” He talked with numerous conservation groups, but decided the approach of the LOLT was in tune with his desires.
“They convinced me they existed solely to protect historic properties as well as beautiful vistas and fields and rivers and forests,” Beattie said. “The Land Trust approach dovetailed perfectly with their mission statement.”
Throughout their discussions and negotiations the group's staff would ask how they could help, and to make things work that the Beatties wanted to include in their conservation easement to preserve the property.
“And, I think a lot of T. Heyward Carter, my lawyer, who is a past president of the Land Trust,” he added. “He never did anything to betray my trust in him, despite his prior connection with the organization.”
“The negotiations were business-like, and did not favor either the land owner or the organization, which is always good,” Beattie said. “The negotiation becomes a genteel tug of war between the organization and the individual landowner. Fortunately, we did not have an argument about anything.”
“I thought they were very good about doing things,” Raejean Beattie added.
Hopsewee Plantation remains the Beatties' private residence, but the grounds and house are open for tours.
The plantation is 12 miles south of Georgetown, just off U.S. Highway 17.
Tour hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays from November to February.
Beginning in March, tours are available the same hours, from Monday through Friday. Appointments may be made during the year for private tours. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 5 to 17 years of age.
For more information, visit the website, www.hopsewee.com, send an e-mail to mail@hopsewee.com or call (843) 546-7891.

©Georgetown Times 2006