Eastside History Series: 2 Amherst St.- The Belser House (also known as Presqu'le)

by Dr. Susan Millar Williams 

We know that this handsome Adam-style house was built between 1802 and 1808 by someone whose last name was Belser, but it’s not clear whether his first name was Jacob or Christopher. It has come to be known as the Christopher Belser House, and also as Presqu’ile, a French word that means peninsula. It may have been designed by Gabriel Manigault, but again, no one is positive. 

Archibald Grimke

We do know for sure that it was owned (and expanded) by Henry Grimké, brother of the famous Sarah and Angelina Grimké, who had three sons by his slave Nancy Weston. One of them, Archibald Henry Grimké, grew up to be a prominent lawyer and author.  A graduate of the freedmen's schools who went on to earn a degree from Harvard Law School, Archibald served as American Consul to the Dominican Republic from 1894 to 1898 and as a national vice-president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 

Another of Henry and Nancy’s sons, Francis James Grimké, became a Presbyterian minister and helped found the NAACP. The third son, John, moved to Florida and cut off ties with his family.

Sarah and Angelina Grimke

Sarah and Angelina left Charleston as young women and became famous for their writing and lectures on abolition and women’s rights. They apparently discovered the existence of their mixed-race nephews when they read one of Archibald Grimké’s essays and realized that he shared their name. 

Stair Tower, Historic American Survey, Library of Congress

As far as I can tell, Archibald, Francis, and John never actually lived in this house, since Henry moved his family to the country after he started having children with Nancy Weston. However, Henry’s association with Presqu’ile gives the Eastside neighborhood a link to some of Charleston’s most renowned nineteenth-century authors and activists, and to a famous twenty-first century novelist. Sue Monk Kidd’s 2014 novel The Invention of Wings explores the inner lives of Sarah and Angelina and a slave girl, Hetty, who was given to Sarah on her eleventh birthday. 

The Belser house was damaged in the earthquake of 1886. A photograph by George Cook shows the stucco fallen from one of the gables, exposing the brick underneath.      

The Belser House in 1958
Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress

In 1951 the building was purchased by the Baptist Association, which used it for outreach services. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ravenel bought the house in 1973 and began restoring it to its former glory. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Spiral Staircase seen from above
Historic Buildings Survey, Library of Congress