35 Legare Street, Charleston, South Carolina 29401 | Page 7

History
WOMEN

Another interesting theme in the ownership of 35 Legare is the strong
sense of women ownership at the property. As evidenced by Elizabeth
Damaris Moultrie being willed the property and being a key player in the
ownership of the property, the lot, from early on, was owned by women.
Six women owned and operated the property throughout its life time.
They owned it for a total of 167 years out of the 320 years of ownership;
more than half of the life of the property.
Elizabeth Damaris St. Julien Moultie was given the property as part of
her inheritance in the St. Julien family. She maintained control of the
property from around the 1750s until she and William Moultrie sold the
property in 1771. In the conveyance deed she was consistently mentioned as a partnership with Moultrie instead of it just being Moultrie
as the sole conveyor. It is evident from the verbiage that she held high
stakes in the land.
In 1772 Elizabeth Williams purchased the lot from Benjamin Huger. Williams is, in fact, the likely builder of the house. In 1796, her daughter
Rebecca Screven was willed the property when her mother passed away.
Screven was documented year after year for living at 18 Lynch Street
but upon her death in 1836 she calls the house at 35 Legare Street her
home. It is possible that she was using the house as a rental property to
be income generating.