Litchfield Plantation
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Litchfield Plantation in
Pawleys Island, South Carolina Pawleys Island is a town in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States, and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast Bar (landform), barrier island on which the town is located. Pawleys Island's population was 103 at the 2010 United States cens ...
, is one of the oldest rice plantations on the
Waccamaw River The Waccamaw River is a river, approximately 140 miles (225 km) long, in southeastern North Carolina and eastern South Carolina in the United States. It drains an area of approximately 1,110 square miles (2886 km2) in the coastal pla ...
.


History

The
plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
traces its formation to three land grants of 500, 500 and from King
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...
to Thomas Hepworth, in 1710, 1712 and 1711. The plantation was named "Litchfield" by Peter Simon, with the first reported statement of its existence occurring in his will. The original
mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...
or "Plantation House" was built in 1740. The most celebrated owner of the plantation was the Tucker Family of
Georgetown, South Carolina Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, South Carolina, Georgetown County, in the South Carolina Lowcountry, Lowcountry. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census ...
. The Tucker family originally came to South Carolina from
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
. Daniel Tucker was a politician and had three sons. The eldest, John Tucker eventually inherited the plantation and perfected growing methods for rice on the property. By 1850 Litchfield Plantation was producing one million pounds of rice per year. John had 9 sons by 4 wives. Upon the death of John Tucker ownership passed to his son Dr. Henry Massingberd Tucker. Dr. Tucker served as a volunteer with the
Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...
for four years during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
. He was also a staunch
Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...
and when a new church was built had the old All Saints Church dismantled and moved to his property. In order to compel church attendance by the slaves who worked the plantation Dr. Tucker withheld weekly rations of food and tobacco from those slaves who did not attend services. Dr. Tucker was also a sportsman and won many tournaments at the Georgetown Rifle Club.


List of owners (chronological)

Peter Simon, circa 1794
John Simon, circa 1794 (acquired upon the death of Peter Simon and sold to Daniel Tucker prior to 1796)
Daniel Tucker, circa 1794-1797
John Hyrne Tucker, 1797-1859
Dr. Henry Massingberd Tucker, 1859-1897
Breslauer, Lachicotte and Company, 1897-1901
Louis Claude Lachicotte, 1901-1904
Col. Ralph Nesbit, 1904-1911
Joshua John Ward and Arthur Herbert Lachicotte, 1911-1926
Dr. Henry Norris, 1926-1942
Harry Edmond Parker, J. Philip Booth and Thornwell Hay Parker, 1942-1957
James B. Moore, E. Craig Wall, William N. Miller, Jr., Howard Hinman, Jr., 1957-1966
Louise Price Parsons, 1966
Litchfield Plantation Company


Slavery

Little is recorded of the history of slavery at Litchfield plantation, although it is established by many sources that slaves were used to work the plantation. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Litchfield plantation is the existence of a cemetery utilized by slaves of Litchfield plantation and their descendants. According to an archaeological investigation performed by Brockington and Associates in 1989 the cemetery holds approximately 150 possible graves. Only 2 of these graves are marked, with dates in 1888 and 1920.


Ghost stories

Like much of the low country, Litchfield Plantation boasts a number of ghost stories. These stories center around Dr. Henry Massingberd Tucker. One of the stories involves the ghost of Dr. Tucker returning to the plantation on horseback after performing a midnight house call. It has been anecdotally reported that he rings the bell at the entrance gate to alert the stable hands that he had returned, followed by the sound of a horse trotting down the main lane. The other stories involve the ghost of Dr. Tucker appearing in the plantation house and the sound of a person walking on the back staircase.


Today

Litchfield Plantation is currently in the process of being developed as a master-planned residential community. The original Mansion is now used as a homeowner's social club, and the original site of the stables is now occupied by The Abbey, an Anglican Mission church. The plantation has given its name to the nearby community of Litchfield Beach.


See also

*
Slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865 ...


External links


Litchfield Plantation External SiteGoogle Map
{{coord, 32.70656, N, 89.05598, W, type:landmark_source:enwiki, display=title History of agriculture in the United States Plantations in South Carolina Buildings and structures in Georgetown County, South Carolina