Topic: Plantation Life

Berkeley County (S.C.) Memories – Civil War

This collection represents items related to activities in Berkeley County during the Civil War era, including the recollections of Capt. John Stoney Porcher, C.S.A. of Walworth Plantation, S.C.


Quick Access:

Voices of the Santee Delta Oral History Collection

The Voices of the Santee Delta project’s primary purpose will be to record an oral history of this significant biological and historic area. The Santee Delta was once the location of an important branch of the Rice Kingdom, and a slave labor force whose descendants have provided a lasting Gullah culture. The voices are diverse, …


Quick Access:

Springfield Plantation Journal, 1831 – 1864

The Springfield Plantation journal collection contains a bound plantation journal and loose papers pertaining to Springfield Plantation owned by Francis Withers (1769-1847) and later by Joshua John Ward (1800-1853) in Georgetown County, South Carolina. The journal (1831-1864) contains the names of enslaved men, women and children on Springfield Plantation as well as births, information on …


Quick Access:

Slave Records in the Discrete Manuscript Collection

The selected manuscripts date from as early as 1774 and contain evidence of the lives and experiences of enslaved persons in South Carolina. The items include bills of sale, plantation ledger lists, land plats, court records, family papers, correspondences, labor contracts, last will and testaments and estate records. These manuscripts have proven essential in genealogical …


Quick Access:

Roslin Plantation Journal, 1807-1814

This journal, found in the Perry family papers, contains lists of enslaved persons, cotton and rice accounts, and a planting diary for 1813 and 1814 from Roslin Plantation in St. Paul’s Parish.


Quick Access:

Rose Hill Plantation Time Books, 1878

This collection consists of three time books for Rose Hill Plantation in Beaufort County, South Carolina. The books were kept in the year 1878 by or for a member of the Heyward family. The time books document the names of enslaved men and women working on the plantation and their jobs working with rice, carpentry …


Quick Access:

Richmond Plantation Journal, 1859-1860

The Richmond Plantation Journal, 1859-1860 collection is comprised of a bound volume kept by Richmond Plantation overseer Anthony Weston between 1859-1860. Weston moved to the plantation on January 13th, 1859 under the supervision of the plantation’s owner Dr. Benjamin Huger. Weston began recording activities on the rice plantation related to rice cultivation, vegetable farming and …


Quick Access:

Rice Harvest at Mulberry Plantation (Berkeley County, SC)

Mulberry Plantation is believed to have received its name because of an early interest in raising silk, as worms that spin silk generally feed on Mulberry leaves. However, the plantation was more successful as a rice plantation. Rice was cultivated at Mulberry Plantation from colonial days until 1918. Rice cultivation was difficult and dangerous work …


Quick Access:

Mulberry Plantation Journal, 1853-1908 (bulk 1853-1889)

The Mulberry Plantation Journals, 1853-1908 (bulk 1853-1889) collection is comprised of four bound journals containing records of Mulberry Plantation in Berkeley County, South Carolina kept by plantation owners John B. Milliken, Thomas Milliken and overseers C.A. Ward and R. Meynardie. Volume One kept by Thomas Milliken between 1853-1858, reports activities on the rice plantation such …


Quick Access:

Mathurin Guerin Gibbs Plantation Register, 1824-1874

This is the plantation register by Mathurin Guerin Gibbs (1788-1849) for Rice Hope Plantation and Jericho Plantation. The plantation register primarily documents the cultivation and harvesting of staple crops such as corn, cotton, rice and potatoes, livestock, and building fences. Gibbs also writes about the use and management of enslaved labor and the movement of …


Quick Access: