McGowan-Barksdale-Bundy House

Front: This 1888 Queen Anne house was the home of Gen. Samuel McGowan (1819-1897) until his death. McGowan, a lawyer, Confederate general, and jurist born in Laurens Co., had moved to Abbeville in 1841. He was an officer during the Mexican War and in the S.C. militia after it. During the Civil War he commanded the 14th S.C. Infantry 1862-63 and commanded a S.C. brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia 1863-65. Reverse: After 1865 McGowan bought a house on this lot. Built by Col. James Perrin in 1860, it burned in 1887; this house was built on the old foundation. McGowan served as a justice on the S.C. Supreme Court 1879-93. The Barksdale family bought the house in 1905, and WWII Gen. W.E. Barksdale was the last to live here. In 1989 his nephew J.D. Bundy gave it to the Abbeville County Historical Society as its headquarters.