Built in: 1785

Believed to have been built by the Reverend James Graham who married Sarah Jane Givens of Beaufort, this frame house with tabby foundations has two fine exterior end-wall chimneys other exterior detailing. Interior details include mantels, wainscoting, a mahogany staircase, and an original ceiling medallion in the drawing room. Graham was born in Scotland and served as the third pastor of the Baptist Church of Beaufort. In the mid-nineteenth century the Misses Fanny and Julia Baker lived in this house, which became known as the Baker house. Miss Julia was the author of the poem “Mizpah-God Watch Between Me and Thee,” which was very popular during her day. The 1862 Direct Tax map indicates J.T.Baker as the owner of the property before the occupation of Beaufort by Union troops. The Misses Baker fled at the beginning of the Civil War. During the Reconstruction, the house became known as “The Mission” and was occupied by Mrs. Rachel C. Mather and the Baptist missionaries who built Mather School for the furtherance of Negro education and who were active in the Freedmen’s Aid Society.