Cyrus Garvin

Front: Little is known of Cyrus Garvin’s early life. He was likely born into slavery, possibly on a plantation of the Baynard family. Garvin is notable for having amassed considerable status and property after emancipation. In 1868 he was acting as an agent on Ephraim Baynard’s Montpelier plantation. By 1870 he was farming 75 acres and that number had risen to 100 ten years later. In 1878 he acted as an agent for St. Matthews Baptist Church, helping them to acquire land in Bluffton. Reverse: Cyrus Garvin built the house located here c. 1870 and it is believed to be the oldest extant dwelling built by Freedpeople in Bluffton. The extended hall-and-parlor design was a vernacular form common to the low country. By 1880 Garvin lived here with his wife Ellen, their son Isaac, and Isaac’s wife Janie and son Paul. Janie, who died in 1954, was the last person to inhabit the house, though the Garvins remained owners until 1961. The Beaufort Co. Land Trust acquired the land in 2001.