HISTORY OF THE SARVIS HOUSE

Samuel Scarborough Sarvis was born on September 25, 1843 in the Hebron Community near Bucksport in Horry County, South Carolina. At the age of eighteen. He enlisted in the Army of the Confederate States of America. Thus, the name Captain Sam.

Soon after his discharge, he began building “The Sarvis House”. He was in the turpentine and lumber business. Some of the lumber was milled locally and the remainder was shipped by boat from Bucksport to the Peachtree Landing. It was delivered to the building site by mule and wagon. Having been built in his spare time and before the era of power tools, it took quite some time to complete. The house was occupied until 1881.

Captain Sam married Lucy Elenita Grissette from North Carolina on November 9, 1881, and they lived in the house until her death from childbirth on July 23, 1896. Their children were George Francis Sarvis, Hannah Sarvis, Lucy Sarvis, Samuel Scarborough Sarvis, Jr., Paul G. Sarvis, Reuben Cornelius Sarvis, Francis Garvin Sarvis, Josephine Sarvis, Honor Sarvis, and Elnita Sarvis. He never remarried and continued living in the house until his death in December 6, 1931. Two of his daughters that had taken care of him in his later day, Hannah Sarvis and Lucy Sarvis Grant, and her children Harry Grand and Hannah Kate Grant continued living in the house until Lucy’s death in 1975.

With the death of Lucy, the house remained vacant until sold by her son, Harry, to Jane Sarvis Ammons in 1983. Jane is the eldest child of Reuben Cornelius Sarvis.

When Jane purchased the house, it was still pretty much in its original state. It had no electricity or running water.

In restoring the house, one room had to be taken down because it wasn’t practical structurally to restore. The only upgrades from the original design were the additions of electricity, plumbing, and a heat pump.

Jane and her husband, Ike, lived in The Sarvis House until moving to Linville, NC in June of 2010 because of declining health. The house remained vacant until purchased by the Socastee Heritage Foundation in February of 2013.