Misc. Notes
He died in his 63rd year.
®1891 He lived in Charleston, South Carolina. CHRISTOPHER FITZSIMONS, ESQ. He was born in Ireland in 1762 and died in Augusta, Georgia on 28 July 1825. Christopher FitzSimons came from Ireland to claim his inheritance from the estate of an uncle (also named Christopher FitzSimons) who died in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1782. Christopher FitzSimons was an attorney and became one of the wealthiest merchants in Charleston. Early in his career he was a cotton factor representing some of the most prominent planters, including General Wade Hampton, in their transactions with Europe and markets in the North. Eventually he, too, became a planter investing in land and other businesses, thus increasing his wealth exponentially. By 1800, General Wade Hampton, Christopher FitzSimons and Oswell Eve were all investing in the future of Augusta and the newly developing State of Georgia. FitzSimons and Eve both bought land in and around Augusta, even sharing some parcels, and settled their children there while maintaining their Charleston presence. Christopher FitzSimons and family lived at "Goodale”, near Augusta after Oswell Eve moved from there to his new "Forest Hall”. He gave "Goodale" to his daughter Ann as a wedding gift. Christopher FitzSimons and his family frequently vacationed in Philadelphia, New York and Newport, Rhode Island. They even had their portraits painted in Philadelphia by Charles Willson Peale in 1818, apparently through connections via Oswell Eve who came from Philadelphia.
Placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, as the Fitzsimmons/Hampton House, "Goodale" is one of the more historic homes in Georgia. It is said to be the oldest brick house in the state. Goodale plantation has a storied past. It was first granted to Thomas Goodale in 1740. He built an inn and restaurant there and operated the Sand Bar Ferry, nearby on the Savannah River. Several years later, he sold the property to Dr. George Jones, son of Noble Wimberly Jones, a noted revolutionary.
In 1799 it was purchased by Christopher Fitzsimmons, a wealthy Charleston shipping merchant. The current house was built in that year. In 1800 Fitzsimmons let his brother-in-law move in with his family. They operated a partnership for several years, the plantation generating large profits. The brother-in-law was Oswell Eve, progenitor of numerous prominent Augusta citizens, including Dr. Paul Fitzsimmons Eve, a founder of the Medical College of Georgia. A daughter of Oswell Eve wrote a memoir in her later years, telling of what life was like at Goodale in the early years. Christopher Fitzsimmons, upon the marriage of his daughter, Ann, to Wade Hampton, Jr., gave the house in dowry. It then went into the hands of one of the more famous families in the South.
Christopher FitzSimons 1762-1825: Married Catherine Pritchard of Charleston, sister of Aphra Ann Pritchard Eve. He was a planter and a merchant, who owned Silver Bluff Plantation and Old Town Plantation. They are parents of Mrs (Gov.) James Henry Hammond, by daughter Catherine’s marriage. They are grandparents of SC Gov. Wade Hampton III by the marriage of daughter Ann FitzSimons to Col. Wade Hampton, Jr. Christopher and Catherine gave Goodale (Inn) House as dowry when daughter Ann married Col. Hampton.
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