Hello! I just moved into a home in the "colonial lake" area of downtown Charleston SC; the realtors date the house as being a "Victorian structure" built roughly in the year 1880. The house itself is a traditional single style home with two adorning piazzas outside and large Charleston windows that lead out to them. I am finding the letter "M" purposefully carved into the mantles with a tree next to them, and one mantle appears even almost self inscribed by someone (it is on the top of one of the mantles, sort of out of view but still evident.. an extravagant "W" and then several spaces over the "M") The letter is also found on almost every door knob I can find in the home. They appear to be placed in what I am guessing is cast iron, the M's are literally placed in ornate designs on the locks hinges and entry ways to every room. At first I thought that the "M" may be the manufacturer or the company that made the knobs until I found the M placed into the wood mantle and then even hand written into the top of another one. I now believe that these are the initials of the person/family name of the person who built the home. Please help me identify who this person was or what these "M's" stand for specifically! I know through basic search on the internet that William Moultrie (/ˈmuːltriː/; November 23, 1730 – September 27, 1805) was given some of the land at colonial lake (also refered to as colonial pond) to develop, but he would have been long gone by the time this 1880's timeline was developed.
I only have reason to believe that this could be William Moultrie's hand as the knife carving of the overlapping (W, M in my last Imgur photo) can be compared to the little offhand characters I found after his signature reflected here: (copy paste link into browser)
Without dredging up historic documentation, can anybody attempt to point me in a possible direction as to who the person connected to this home might be and/or as to what all the M's stand for?
I do have pictures I have uploaded, please check this link: http://imgur.com/a/lltvx
Thanks!!
I research historic properties from time to time. Unfortunately, it may not be possible to answer your question without consulting historic documents. This is not necessarily a terrible thing, because those documents may be easier to access than you think. I know, for example, that the South Carolina Room at the Charleston County Library has material you could consult. You may want to consult this page from the Historic Charleston Foundation for more resources and guides on how to begin your research.
It may be that a historian who is deeply familiar with the history of that area will recognize the initial on your mantel and be able to answer your question easily. If no one is able to, don't be put off by the prospect of dredging up old records -- Charleston is not exactly neglected when it comes to historic property research, and it may be a matter of a quick trip to the public library to get all the information you need.
Thank you iloveyoucalifornia for the direction! This is a most helpful starting place and it looks like I have some exciting detective work before me!