I'm trying to find an article about it but it's either this library or the state house, I can't remember which, that has/d a stair case made out of canes sent to Preston Brooks after he caned Charles Sumner.

Ok kind of found it:

LINK

quote:
This caning is typically seen as an event that led to the “Civil War,” with Brooks portrayed as a savage. Cartoons of the time that depict the event had captions like “Southern Chivalry: Arguments vs. Clubs” and “The Symbol of the North is the Pen; The Symbol of the South is the Bludgeon.” In reality, Sumner’s speech probably created more division than Brooks’ caning. Butler received canes from Democrats and southerners all over that supported his actions. There is even an urban legend that the Caroliniana library at the University of South Carolina has a spiral staircase made from the canes received by Brooks. At the very least, the library contains a plaque in his honor.

From wiki:

quote:
Brooks was widely cheered across the South, where his attack on Sumner was seen as a legitimate and socially justifiable act, upholding the honor of his family (and the South as a whole) in the face of intolerable insults from a social inferior (and the North as a whole). South Carolinians sent Brooks dozens of new canes, with one bearing the phrase, "Good job". The Richmond Enquirer wrote: "We consider the act good in conception, better in execution, and best of all in consequences. These vulgar abolitionists in the Senate must be lashed into submission." The University of Virginia's Jefferson Literary and Debating Society sent a new gold-headed cane to replace Brooks' broken one. Another cane was inscribed "Hit him again". Southern lawmakers made rings out of the original cane's remains, which they wore on neck chains to show their solidarity with Brooks

If the staircase ever existed it doesn't today.

This post was edited on 7/24/18 at 10:49 pm