Austin-Craig-Laney House

Front: This Carpenter Gothic house was begun ca. 1858 for Aaron Austin (1831-1863) and his wife Margaret Jane Craig. Austin, a Northerner who settled in Chesterfield in the 1850s, was a lawyer and also a Chesterfield District magistrate. He joined the Confederate army in 1862, became 2nd lt. of Co. D, 6th S.C. Cavalry, and died in 1863 in Charleston County. This house remained unfinished until after the war. Reverse: ) In 1903 Aaron Austin’s widow Margaret gave this house to George Kershaw Laney (1872-1959) and Sarah Louise Tiller (1883-1963) as a wedding present. Laney was a lawyer and teacher, then a longtime state representative and senator, serving in the S.C. House 1903-06 and the S.C. Senate 1907-1922 and 1931-1942. He was a member of the Senate judiciary committee 1911-1922 and 1931-1942, and committee chair 1919-1922.