In his Last Will and Testament, Thomas Green Clemson left over 800 acres of land, as well as Fort Hill, to the State of South Carolina to create an agricultural college to educate the farmers and mechanics of the state. The Will said the establishment “should be a high seminary of learning” teaching students “in thorough theoretic and practical instruction in those sciences and arts which bear directly upon agriculture.”
The Will was previously held in the Oconee County Probate Court. Now, in collaboration with the Court and the State of South Carolina, this foundational document that governs Clemson University to this day is now housed in Special Collections and Archives. This collection contains Clemson’s Last Will and Testament, other documents related to Clemson’s estate, and the Last Will and Testament of Clemson’s wife Anna Calhoun Clemson.
Please visit the Special Collections and Archives website for more information about the collection and the will display.
