Site of the Witherspoon Home
220 East white Street
Current location of Saint John's Methodist Church - The Witherspoon Home originally faced East White Street. The Herald reported on July 3, 1897 - "The Rock Hill Hardware Company has orders for steel picket fencing, 350 ft. of ornamental fencing for the lawn in front of Mrs. J.C. Witherspoon's home..."
James S. White and John C. Witherspoon volunteered for service during the Spanish - American War. However, the event was over before they were able to complete training and be deployed.
Mrs. John C. Witherspoon (Addie White - Witherspoon)
1910 Sanborn Map diagram of the Witherspoon Home complex which took up the entire East White Street block.
The Charleston News and Courier of June 7, 1890 reported - "The industry of raising fine stock blooded horses has begun in Rock Hill and the main stock breeder is Col. John C. Witherspoon. He has a very fine set of horses and intends on enlarging his facilities for raising blooded animals. "
It was Col. Witherspoon and his wife, Addie White Witherspoon having been married in 1875, who shortly thereafter constructed their fine home on East White Street facing what is today, the ARP Church, and beside her mother’s home, the White House.
John Crawford Witherspoon, reportedly a brilliant lawyer, was born in Lancaster in 1845 and died in Rock Hill in 1891. He received a good education in the Waxhaws and was about to enter South Carolina College when the Civil War broke out. He served as a Captain in the SC 5th Regiment, Jenkins Brigade. He suffered eleven wounds, including a loss leg and a lost eye. Following his recovery, he read law under his father and opened his practice in Rock Hill. He was a respected orator and served several terms in the SC Legislature. Due to his early death, his dream of raising horses never materialized but his family did prosper in Rock Hill and their home was a major showplace until the 1920s.
So popular was the area, it was the site of the homecoming picnic for returning WW I soldiers.
The Witherspoon home was razed to make room for construction of Saint John’s Methodist Church.