Hightower Hall
It's Past, Present and Future
HIGHTOWER HALL | HISTORY | FUTURE
The first house most visitors see when they arrive at Historic Brattonsville is Hightower Hall.
Located at the northern entrance to the historic site on Brattonsville Road, Hightower Hall is a grand, white frame Italian Villa mansion. The impressive house was built for John Simpson Bratton Jr. and his wife Harriet Rainey Bratton in 1856. Then called Forest Hall, it was the seat of a significant plantation.
After John and Harriet died, it became the home of Robert and Sophia Witherspoon. Sophia was the daughter of John and Harriet Bratton. In 1958, the house was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. R. F. Draper. They in turn sold the house to the commission so that it could become part of Historic Brattonsville.
Hightower Hall has been a familiar and popular feature on the landscape for years. The house was used as a film location for the Mel Gibson movie, The Patriot and has been a popular spot for weddings, receptions and parties. To restore some of the house’s antebellum architectural splendor and to give it a new purpose in life, the Heritage and Culture Museums of York County will conduct an extensive restoration of the house beginning at the end of 2004.
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The impressive Italian Villa, now known as Hightower Hall, was the home of John Simpson Bratton Jr. and his wife Harriet Rainey Bratton, the daughter of his uncle Samuel Rainey Jr. John Bratton Jr. was born in 1819, the second son of Dr. John Simpson Bratton and Harriet Rainey Bratton (sister of Samuel Rainey Jr.). As a young man John Bratton Jr. studied medicine along with two of his brothers, Samuel Edward and James Rufus. In 1843 Dr. Bratton died unexpectedly and John was left to administer his father’s estate and assist his mother running the plantation. In 1849 Dr. Bratton’s estate was settled and John Jr. inherited the largest share.
In 1850 John Jr. and Harriet were still living on his mother’s plantation, known as the Homestead. They owned 19 slaves and operated a farm valued at owned $9,000. About four years later they contracted with a builder to construct a house of their own about three quarters of a mile north of the Homestead.
The house plan they chose was right out of a book—Volume II of William Ranlett’s The Architect to be exact, published in 1851. Found in the chapter on “Cheap Houses,” the plan was originally conceived by Ranlett to accommodate two families.
Designed in an Italian inspired style, the house featured a prominent central tower and wide, bracketed eaves that gave it the appearance of a country Italian Villa. John and Harriet’s Italian inspired house featured a three story central tower and a nearly square two story floor plan with a wide central hall flanked by two rooms on each side, built upon a high brick foundation providing a sub-ground floor. Illustrating the Italianate style the exterior featured deep eaves, large vertical windows, bracketed mounts and a low pitched hip roof. The house, started in 1854, was completed around 1856. During their occupation, the Brattons called their home Forest Hall.
By the eve of the Civil War, John and Harriet were moderately wealthy cotton planters. Their plantation consisted of 4,000 acres of land valued at $24,000. They owned forty-five slaves who worked to produce over 60 bales of cotton, 1,500 bushels of corn, and tended over 130 head of livestock including pigs, sheep, beef and dairy cattle. John and Harriet also owned 3 horses and 12 mules. Around their house were located a separate kitchen, smoke house, one slave dwelling and likely a host of other plantation buildings.
Unlike his father, but like his grandfather Colonel William Bratton, John S. Bratton Jr., was politically active. Prior to and during the war John served as Brattonsville’s postmaster, a post he assumed after the death of his brother Robert. During the Civil War John was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and the Soldier’s Board of Relief. He also served in the state militia.
Following the end of the war, John attempted to maintain the local pre-war social and racial status quo. Embittered by the South’s loss and likely angered by the demands for equality by local African Americans, John joined the Ku Klux Klan along with his brother Rufus. In 1871 a local black militiaman named Jim Williams was hanged after allegedly threatening to burn Brattonsville to the ground. The Brattons were suspected of involvement, and in 1872 both John and Rufus fled the country to Canada to escape prosecution and imprisonment. After several years of exile, John and Rufus received pardons, returned home and resumed their lives as best they could. John not only ran his own plantation but assisted his aged mother in managing her agricultural holding until her death in 1874.
John died in 1888 and his wife Harriet died in 1912. Forest Hall passed to their daughter Sophia and her husband Robert Witherspoon, and the home became known locally as the “Witherspoon place.” Following the deaths of Robert (1930) and Sophia (1937), their children rented the plantation out to tenant farmers. By the 1960s Forest Hall had become known locally as “Hightower Hall,” a name generally attributed to the local businessman and preservationist John Gettys Smith. In 1958 Mr. and Mrs. R.F. Draper purchased John and Harriet’s old plantation house. Draper was an executive with IBM and it was his intention that they reside at the farm once he retired. He continued adding property to the farm and by the time of his death in 1995, he had acquired 1,285 acres. With the help of the Nation Ford Land Trust, the Friends of Historic Brattonsville and the York County Council, Historic Brattonsville was able to acquire John and Harriet’s plantation house and 485 surrounding acres. The rest of the Draper property was purchased by the state and became part of the South Carolina Wildlife Management system. Back to top>>
Click here to learn more about the Vales of Time expansion plans for Historic Brattonsville.
For nearly 150 years the Italian Villa plantation house has welcomed visitors with its stately presence and gentle grace. Hightower Hall has never been renovated and the years have taken their toll. To preserve its heritage, the Culture & Heritage Museums (CHM) have made plans for its revitalization. In 2003, architectural designs were completed to give it a new purpose and a physical structure strong enough to last another 150 years.
Hightower Hall will be accurately restored and significantly improved. Within the house’s Italianate walls, thanks to the household records of her first owner John Simpson Bratton Jr., visitors will find themselves surrounded by richly appointed interiors patterned on those of the early Victorian Era. The exterior will be completely restored, including the accurate re-construction of its original front and rear porches.
To provide visitors with contemporary amenities, the house will be given full ADA accessibility, modern restroom facilities, catering and dining areas, and contemporary HVAC, fire suppression, electrical, and telecommunication system. The house’s renovations will be complemented by grand sweeping lawns and gardens filled with period appropriate plantings to provide the perfect backdrop for programming as well as special events.
When completed Hightower Hall will reopen as one of the region’s premier facilities for public use including meetings, corporate retreats, family reunions, weddings and regional conferences. Renovations will also provide for exceptional new CHM programming including space for exhibitions, classes, lectures, symposia, and workshops. Earned income from these activities will help sustain the operations and maintenance of Historic Brattonsville and other CHM sites. back to top>>
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