There appears to be some
controversy surrounding the 1930 death of Walter Lewis Gassaway in Greenville,
South Carolina.
Walter Gassaway was born 19 Jan
1865[1]
or 1866[2],
(depending on his death certificate or grave marker) in Pickens County, South
Carolina to James Gassaway and Mariah Douthit. Upon completion of school,
Walter Gassaway moved to Greenville, where he worked in a bank, eventually
working his way up to bank President, and later founding the Issaqueena Mill.
Along the way, he married Minnie Quinn, and has one daughter, Susan Mariah
Gassaway.[3]
His wife, Minnie Quinn Gassaway,
studied architecture and designed their home, Issaqueena (Gassaway) Mansion. The
estate still stands today serving as an event space for weddings, and parties.
The story goes that the Great
Depression got to poor Walter Gassaway and after losing all his money in
investments shot himself on the front lawn of their home on 4 June 1930.[4]
But is this true and what was is origin of this tale?
A 2016 blog post repeats this assertion, and an anonymous
commenter posted the following:
Anonymous December 6, 2017 at 6:39 PM
My great-great
grandfather did NOT shoot himself on the front lawn of this house. In fact, he
had already moved out of this house after losing it in 1929. He, his wife
Minnie, his sister-in-law Miss Eula Quinn, and his daughter Susan moved into a
house near the downtown area, on Ashley Street. Sadly, he was a 65 year old
man, and one day he was working in the garden, on an extremely hot day. He went
inside and a few minutes later, died of a heart attack in his wife's arms. I
have no idea where any of this nonsense about him shooting himself comes from,
but my grandfather extremely dislikes it whenever he hears that his grandfather
shot himself, which he didn't. More than likely, this was made up to draw in
tourism money for the "ghost" tours.
A 5 June 1930, obituary in The
Greenville News states that Walter was the “victim of a short illness at home”.
The article goes on to explain, much like the anonymous commenter, that Walter
Gassaway had been “overseeing work on the premises” and he was probably over
exerted.[5]
The South Carolina Death
Certificate lists cause of death as a “cerebral hemorrhage”[6].
While a cerebral hemorrhage can be caused by injury, it is more likely that
this was a burst blood vessel.[7]
There is no evidence that the
family was living on Ashley Street at the time of Walter Gassaway’s death, the
location listed as Old Spartanburg Road in the obituary and on the death
certificate support that they were still at Issaqueena. The 1930 Census for
Greenville, enumerated in April of that year, lists the family on Spartanburg
Road.[8]
Today, Old Spartanburg Road, runs into Brushy Creek Rd, which becomes E
North St. Issaqueena is located directly off E. North St.
There were money troubles, however.
In July of 1930, the Norwood National Bank, took Minnie Quinn Gassaway to court
to foreclose on the home on Old Spartanburg Rd.[9]
The court awarded the property to the bank, and Minnie Gassaway was living with
her sister in another home by November 1930.[10]
Issaqueena eventually became apartments and once housed The Greenville County
Museum of Art (1959-1974).
The origins of the suicide story
are not so clear, the earliest mention found of it is a 1977 Greenville News
article where a story is relayed that Walter Gassaway hung himself in the home
and his ghost could be heard banging around in the stairwell when the wind
blew.[11]
Regular reports persist that the
ghost of Walter Gassaway haunts the mansion and is often “seen” on the front
lawn. Perhaps he is trying to tell us that he died of natural causes, proven by
the records, or perhaps it is Minnie Quinn Gassaway, who passed away in 1965,
keeping watch over her glamorous design.
[1] FindAGrave.com,
Digital images, (http://findagrave.com/memorial/8481957/walter-lewis-gassaway
: accessed 23 April 2021)
[2] South
Carolina Deaths, 1915-1965, FamilySearch.org, entry for Walter Lewis
Gassaway, digital images
[3] Snowden,
Yates, editor, History of South Carolina, The Lewis Publishing Company,
Chicago and New York, 1920, FamilySearch.org, 96
[4] Tabler,
Dave, “All the Adornments That Taste and Money Can Afford”, appalachainhistory.net,
(http://appalachianhistory.net/2017/06/all-the-adornemtns-that-taste-and-money-can-afford.html
: accessed 23 April 2021)
[5] “Walter
L. Gassaway Victim of Short Illness”, The Greenville News, 5 June 1930,
newspapers.com, (http://newspares.com/clip/26416828/wlg-obituary/
: accessed 23 April 2021)
[6] South
Carolina Deaths, entry for Walter Lewis Gassaway
[7] “Cerebral
Hemorrhage”, HealthGrades.com, entry for What is Cerebral Hemorrhage, accessed
23 April 2021
[8]
“United States Census, 1930”, for Greenville,
Greenville County, South Carolina, database with images,
FamilySearch.org, entry for Walter L. Gassaway
[9] “Claim
of Norwood Against Mrs. Gassaway is Confirmed”, The Greenville News, 12 July
1930, newspapers.com, (http://newspapers.com/iamge/191634944/?terms+Walter%20Gassaway&match=1
: accessed 23 April 2021)
[10] “Portion
of Testimony in Gassaway Hearing Finished”, The Greenville News, 26 November,
1930, newspapers.com, (http://newspapers.com/image/191658302/?terms=Walter%20Gassaway&match=1
: accessed 23 April 2021)
[11] Richardson,
Deb, “As Ghost Town, Greenville’s Dead”, The Greenville News, 13 April 1977,
newspapers.com, (http:// https://www.newspapers.com/image/188463719/?terms=Walter%20Gassaway&match=1
: accessed 27 April 2021)
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