James Douthit Tradewell (1810 - 1880)

Born 31 Mar 1810 in Edgefield, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah Emma (McCaine) Tradewell — married 21 Feb 1856 in Edgefield, South Carolina

Descendants

Died 23 Nov 1880 at age 70 in Columbia, South Carolina

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Biography

First elected mayor of Columbia, South Carolina

Biography by his granddaughter Sarah Tradewell McIntosh Taylor and great-granddaughter Jouett Taylor Prisley:

James was the eldest of eight children, an obvious achiever, of erratic temperament, married twice and father of thirteen children, several who did not reach adulthood, and none of the sons who did fathered children to carry on this line.

During the Reconstruction, he made no compromise with the Union. “One of the most famous members of the Columbia bar,” he was remembered in the obituary of an adult son, and as a prosecuting attorney he lost only one case. He was graduated from South Carolina College (now University of South Carolina) at age 20 in 1830 and studied law with Columbia’s notable Maxcy Gregg for whom he named a son that died in infancy.

When the South Carolina legislature granted a charter to the first militia company of “Governor’s Guards” in December 1843, prior to the Mexican War, James was elected its first captain. In 1857 he had the distinction of being Columbia’s first elected mayor, serving two terms, 1857-58 and 1858-59. Previous city leadership had been by aldermen or intendants. His portrait was hung in City Hall, and a miniature of the portrait is still in the family.

HIS DARK SIDE

There was a dark side to his nature, which was no secret in documents or family memory. The family of his first wife mentioned “a drinking problem.” He was hotheaded and known to have fought duels, which were against the law in South Carolina. Mary Boykin Chestnut, wife of a U.S. senator from the state at the beginning of the War for Southern Independence, wrote this in her Diary From Dixie on 3 June 1862:

“Mrs. Bartow and Dr. Berrian met Treadwell, dreadfully drunk, the night before. They tried to evade him, but he would not let them escape. He was insolent and aggressive. He got in front of them and blocked the way. Dr. Berrian raised his stick, but Treadwell drew a pistol. So did Dr. Berrian. Mrs. Bartow threw her arms around her brother....” and so ended the incident in Chestnut’s account.

Another account by William Gilmore Simms told of a time that Tradewell “hid out” while authorities sought to arrest him on learning that he made a challenge to duel. After two or three days a Board of Honor arranged an amicable settlement to the matter, but the original provocation to Tradewell’s honor was not stated.

Yet again Simms related the instance when a city official, William Myers, fractured Tradewell’s head with a stick. Tradewell recovered quickly but challenged Myers to a duel in North Carolina thus evading local law. Myers was generally regarded as fearless, but this time his courage failed. Tradewell and his second, Edward Young, arrived at the chosen spot and so did Myers’s second, a Major Smart, but no Myers. According to rules of the code duello, the major offered to stand for Myers, but Tradewell refused the encounter saying his grievance was only against Myers. How ironic that misery and death ensued anyhow. Young, Tradewell’s second, caught a cold so severe that he died within a few days, and his aged father shortly thereafter. Myers retired to his plantation and was not seen in Columbia for ten years. Had he flatly refused the original challenge, he would have lost no esteem of his peers as his courage was undoubted, while Tradewell was known for his irrational behavior. The incident however made history in the fortunately rare South Carolina tradition of duels. “There was never but one other known case of a backout from a duel in South Carolina,” Simms noted, “and then the poor man died of chagrin.”

James Tradewell’s granddaughter, Ella Tew Lindsay, wrote to her brother James on 14 Jul 1925: “I think Grandpa Tradewell was the best looking of all our progenitors and the least admirable. Have you ever thought, James, how brilliant he was, certainly at one time, and now there is no stone at his grave, his sons left no descendants, and their very graves are obliterated under the church.” (A floor marker was added in Washington Street Methodist Church when church expansion spread atop the graveyard.)

FIRST MARRIAGE

Tradewell married first in Nov 1832 to Elizabeth Christiana Boatwright. He was 22 years old and she was a year younger. She died in 1854 after the birth of five children: ^{[1] [2]}

1. Elizabeth Faust "Lizzie," b. 26 Aug 1834, m. Col. Charles Courtenay Tew, d. 02 Jun 1870 ^[3]

2. Ella Rebecca, b. 24 Jan 1836, m. Peter Bryce Glass, d. 06 Aug 1919 ^[4]

3. James William, b. 24 Jan 1842, d. 18 Mar 1887

4. Alester Garden, b. 18 Mar 1844, d. 09 Apr 1880

5. Ida Sissie, b. 08 Oct 1846, d. 26 Jan 1851 ^[5]

Treadwell descendant Judith Allison (Aldrich) Crenshaw tells the story that in 1836, after James and Elizabeth's second child was born, that James and his brother William invested $35,000 in land about five miles from Tallahassee. William moved his family and slaves there by 1840, but there is no record that James and Elizabeth ever held residence there.

SECOND MARRIAGE

James D. Tradewell married second on 21 Feb 1856 in Columbia to Sarah Emma McCaine, in a ceremony by the Rev. C. Murchison. ^[6] James and Emma had eight children, four of whom died before the age of two: ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}

6. Mary Lamar "Mamie," b. 02 Jan 1856, m. Franklin Brenaugh Fielding, d. 09 Aug 1923

7. Maxcy Gregg, b. abt. 1858, d. 29 Sep 1860

8. (unnamed infant), b. 31 Aug 1860, d. 01 Sep 1860

9. Hugh Antwerp, b. 1862, d. 1896

10. Emma Johnson, b. abt. 1864, d. 24 Sep 1865

11. Robert Lee, b. 19 May 1870, d. 29 Oct 1870

12. Lucile Rosa, b. 19 Aug 1871, m1. Gudstavus Gernand, m2. Gustaf Jonson Sylvan, d. 15 Jun 1961

13. Nina Elizabeth, b. 27 Jun 1873, m. Francis Bernard McIntosh, d. 28 Jul 1959

Nina, the last born, was six at her father’s death in 1880.

UNRECONSTRUCTED CONFEDERATE

Tradewell never bowed to Union victory and reportedly refused to sign the oath of allegiance to the national government. As an officer in the Governor’s Guards as well as a practicing attorney, and therefore an officer of the courts of South Carolina, he may have been denied the privilege of allegiance had he wanted it. He therefore lost all opportunity to practice law or hold any public office.

DEATH AND BURIAL

James Douthit Tradewell died 23 Nov 1880 and was buried at Washington Street Methodist Church in Columbia. ^[11]

OBITUARY from the Columbia Register, 25 Nov 1880:

"The Hon. James D. Tradewell died at his residence on Senate street yesterday afternoon.

"The relatives, friends and acquaintances of Mr. and Mrs. James D. Tradewell, of Mr. and Mrs. P. B. Glass and of Mr. and Mrs. F. B. Fielding are respectfully invited to attend the funeral services of Mr. Tradewell at Trinity Church at 1 o'clock today.

"Attention, Governor's Guards! Assemble at your armory today at 12 M. in full uniform, with arms, to pay last tribute of respect to ex-Captain James D. Tradewell. By order: R.C. Wright, First Sergeant"

Burial notice from the Columbia Register, 27 Nov 1880, pg. 4:

"The remains of the Honorable James D. Tradewell were interred in the family plot in the Washington Street Church yard Thanksgiving Day. The funeral services were conducted at Trinity."

Death notice from the Christian Neighbor, 02 Dec 1880, pg. 194:

"Columbia, November 24, Hon. Jas. D. Tradewell."

Enslaved African Americans

James D. Tradewell is enumerated in the 1850 census with nine enslaved Africans Americans: ^[12]

• Five unnamed males aged 44, 25, 17, 10, 2
• Four unnamed females aged 35, 30, 10, 8

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1840," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHRY-JC8 : 18 August 2017), Jas D Tradewell, Columbia, Richland, South Carolina, United States; citing p. 427, NARA microfilm publication M704, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 514; FHL microfilm 22,510.
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8Q2-8C8 : 12 April 2016), James D Tradewell, Columbia, Richland, South Carolina, United States; citing family 541, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
3. ↑ Elizabeth died before her youngest half-sister, Nina, was born, but Nina maintained a long and fond relationship with her Tew kin.
4. ↑ Ella's half sister Nina and her daughter Sarah (McIntosh) Taylor maintained close family ties with the Glass family
5. ↑ Ida died at “four years, three months and 18 days,” within a year after her mother’s death. In a Glass family manuscript file at Caroliniana Library in Columbia are deeply philosophical and wistful poems and meditations written by the still grieving widower on the loss of his (apparently) beloved youngest.
6. ↑ Holcomb, Brent: Marriage and Death Notices from Columbia, South Carolina Newspapers, 1838-1860, p. 142, citing the South Carolinian issue of 01 Mar 1856
7. ↑ Letter to Mrs. John P. Prisley from Eleanor M. Richardson, Reference Librarian, South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, dated 24 Jul 1991, citing Holcomb's Record of deaths in Columbia, South Carolina, 1859-77
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZTN-W35 : 12 December 2017), James D Tradewell, 1860.
9. ↑ "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8RR-LL1 : 12 April 2016), Jas D Tradewell, South Carolina, United States; citing p. 59, family 532, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 553,006.
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6ST-W1L : 15 July 2017), James Treadwell, Columbia, Richland, South Carolina, United States; citing enumeration district ED 162, sheet 240B, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1238; FHL microfilm 1,255,238.
11. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #138459134 for James Douthit Tradewell (31 Mar 1810–24 Nov 1880), citing Washington Street Methodist Church Cemetery, Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Steve McNeill (contributor 46855844).
12. ↑ "United States Census (Slave Schedule), 1850 ," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MV89-67V : 29 July 2017), James D Tradewell, Columbia, Richland, South Carolina, United States; citing line number 39, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 444,830.

See also:

• Memoirs of Sarah McIntosh Taylor, Bradenton, Florida, Feb 1979, transcribed 1995 by Jouett Taylor Prisley with footnotes and illustrations in 2019 by Frederic Arnett Prisley
• Report of failing health: Columbia Register, November 23, 1880, page 4
• Died intestate, papers filed in Richland County Probate papers, Box 112, Pkg 2840, SC Archives; including Petition of Sarah E. Tradewell for administration, 13 April 1881, Application for Letters of Administration, 28 April 1881, Letter of Administration, 30 April 1881, Administratrix Bond, 30 April 1881, Administratrix Oath, 30 April 1881