Miss Maria Louisa “Ria” Porcher built this house in 1872. She came from Charleston, South Carolina, following her cousin, William Porcher Dubose. With her she brought the three children of her deceased sister and her son-in-law. By the time Magnolia Hall was built she had 11 motherless and Civil War-orphaned relatives in her care. She educated them and put them through college. Magnolia was so large that Miss Ria was able to house both her family and students. Mr. Robert DuBose, the doctor's brother, and his family lived with her and took over the house when she died about 1890. "No one will ever know how many boys were taken in Magnolia for half pay, or not at all, and given their chance for an education. In addition to the boys, there was a large family connection to be considered at Magnolia, and many sorrows, joys, and needs were sheltered in this home. Probably no house in Sewanee has known so many births, marriages, and deaths. "How many tales its old rooms could tell of the love making and heart-break with which they are haunted." (Purple Sewanee, page 101). The fourth school for children in Sewanee, taught by Miss Louise Finley who was later the librarian of the University, flourished here in the basement for many years. Some of her pupils were: John and Henry Gass, John Puckette, Frank Hoyt Gailor, and Mary, Martha and Tom Hunt.
After Mrs. DuBose's death in 1918, the University converted Magnolia into the University Dining Hall. Additions were made to the kitchen and they built a wing on the west side. Mrs. Eggleston presided over the dining hall from 1922 until her death in January 1936. "Mrs. E," was a favorite among the students and was known to handle every weather hindrance, arrival of trustees, and request of special meals with grace. Praise for her food was long, loud, and frequent. When the Navy V-12 program came to Sewanee in 1941, the University added to the building again.
It continued to be the University Dining Hall until Gailor was built in 1952. Magnolia was then used for language faculty offices, a costume storeroom for the Purple Masque, and offices for student activities until it burned in 1956.
Carpenter, J. (Ed.). (2007). Sewanee Ladies. Sewanee, Tennessee: Proctor's Hall Press.
Gailor, C. (1970). Old Sewanee Houses; The First Fifty-Years, 1860-1910. Unpublished manuscript, The University of the South, Sewanee.
'Purple Torch' Levels Magnolia, Auditorium 'Arsonist In Our Midst, ' McCrady Tells Chapel
Magnolia Hall and Swayback Auditorium burned to the ground in two spectacular and simultaneous fires early Tuesday morning, May 17. Detected shortly before 2:00 a.m., the fires quickly drew hundreds of spectators who shifted restlessly between blazes. "It seems very apparent that we have an arsonist in our midst, someone with really diseased mind," University Vice-Chancellor Edward McCrady stated at Tuesday's noon chapel service. McCrady was giving the general opinion. Magnolia's fire March 15, the blazes' simultaneous nature, the fact that the under-construction Guerry building is to take over the functions of each, and the thoroughness of both fires were factors contributing to the opinion.
Officials are conducting interviews this week to determine the fires' origins. W. L. Goostree, chief inspector for the state fire marshall, Gray Ragsdale, Jr, deputy state fire marshall, and Morris Best of the National Board of Fire Underwriters are heading the investigation. No suspects had been named Wednesday afternoon.
Speaking of the supposed arsonist, Dr. McCrady warned the University that, "There is no telling what consenquences can result from this, if we don't find him."
Rick Thames and Tony Veal, Gailor residents sensed smoke at 1:45, and on finding the source to be Magnolia, spread word to Gailor. A group of Gailor students turned in the alarm 1:50. The fire truck was moved to the site immediately.
As firefighters and students gathered, thick clouds of choking smoke billowed from the building. One fireman investigated the interior and prophetilly announced, "Well never get it this time."
Five minutes after the alarm, flames continued to shoot from all parts of the old dining hall, which quickly became a roaring pyre. Salvage of books and band instruments was impossible, except for one bass clarinet and one trumpet.
At 2:00, student fire chief Fred McNeil received word of the Swayback fire. Upon immediate investigation he found the auditorium's blaze completely out of control. "We stayed on Mag because of the exposure problem," explained McNeil.
In the early stages of the fire, Vice-Chancellor McCrady organized guards to prevent break-ins and looting such as occurred during the earlier Magnolia fire.
Cowan fire chief C. M. Abbott, with ten men, answered a request for aid, adding his equipment and forces to the local departments'.
Sewanee Purple, May 19, 1960 p.1,