Sarah Friday's 1810 Granby Drawing

Hanes





Below: Nicholas Hane




With maybe the only exception being the Friday family, the Hane's were probably the greatest long-time residents of Granby. The 1970 Hane Memorial in the Granby Cemetery states that Nicholas Hane was one of the founders of Granby around 1771 but this does not agree with the paper trail (see below) of Nicholas from his German home to England in the early 1780's and then to Charleston in 1784. Nicholas owned the land on which the Court House and jail were built in 1785. Nicholas, despite the downfall of Granby after the creation of Columbia and the move of the district seat to Lexington, would remain in Granby until his death in 1829. The Nicholas Hane story is a great story of immigration and persistence through multiple failures to success.

Nicholas Hane and Gerard Berck - Germany to Granby

We know very little about Gerard Berck except for his business relationship with Nicholas Hane and that he probably followed Hane from Germany, to England, to Charleston, and then to Granby where they were next door neighbors in Sarah Friday's 1810 drawing of Granby. The story begins with the following public recording of a London bankruptcy on December 20, 1783. Nicholas' and Gerard's store in London was a failure:




The next thing we find (in 1784) is the first of dozens of Charelston newspaper ads (SC Gaz - 6/5/1784) for the store: "Hane and Berck" at 100 Broad Street:



Two years later, they have moved to 207 King Street and there is a change in the business (Charleston Gaz 2/3 and 2/24 1786):




A year later, another address change to 157 King Street and now a big change. Hane and Berck are looking for someone to take them up the Congaree River (Columbian Herald 3/26/1787):



Three years later and we see the final Charleston newspaper reference to Hanes & Berck. The Charleston store is closed and sold (SC Gz 10/21/1790):



Nicholas would spend the rest of his life in Granby (40 years) where he and Gerald would succesfully raise large families and operate stores, next door to each other.

Below: Nicholas Hane's son: Deiderick Hane




Below: The Granby Hane Family




According to the 1800 Census of Granby, a little over half the people in Granby were slaves (170 black slaves and 162 whites). The Census of 1810 shows the Hane's were no different than the average with 7 family members and 7 slaves. Sarah Friday's drawing shows that the Hane's had a Salt House and documentation shows that the Granby Ferry was owned by Nicholas Hane after Wade Hampton gave up on building bridges at Granby around 1800. Below is a common issue you see posted in newspapers during this time. A runaway slave. This one belonged to the Hane's and had been working at the ferry:



Obituary for Nicholas Hane:
SCMAR, Vol. II, Winter 1974, No. 1, p.31
Died at his residence in Granby on Friday evening, the 13th inst., of a lingering illness, Mr. Nicholas Hane, at the venerable age of 81. In the various relations of life, as a husband, father, friend, and master, his conduct was truly exemplary. (Feb. 20, 1829).


Hane home site: Status: Partially buried under a slag pile. Archaeology may be feasible this location on the Quarry property (Click here to see this location on a map)