Contents 1 Background 1.1 Labor Contracts 1.2 Cemetery 2 Sources

Background

Dr. Edward T. Heriot owned Dirleton Plantation, previously known as Richfield.^[1] Dirleton was a rice plantation^[2] located in Georgetown County, South Carolina. It was named after Dirleton Castle, the ancestral home of the Heriot family.^{[3] [4]}

After Heriot's death in 1854 the plantation was given to his son Robert Stark Heriot. However it was then acquired by his daughter Mary and her husband Dr. James Ritchie Sparkman when they traded her brother Robert for Sparkman's Birdfield Plantation about 1859.

Previous owners of the plantation were:

• 1779 Abraham Livingston purchased Richfield from Daniel Huger
• 1817 George and Savage Smith, who also acquired additional 800 acres from John Huger and the property was split into 3 sections to create Springfield, Benevenue, and Richfield.
• Sarah Smith Brown, daughter of George Smith
• 1825 Benjamin Faneuil Hunt purchased Richfield but lost the property for failure to pay the mortgage, see the Richfield Plantation Auction
• 1854 Edward Thomas Heriot bought the plantation for $60,000

In Sparkman's plantation journal, which is dated 1859, he lists the names of 165 enslaved persons that had belonged to the estate of Dr. Edward T. Heriot, who were still on the Dirleton Plantation.^[5][6]

His journal also lists the names of at least 99 enslaved persons he had owned, who came with him in the trade, from his Birdfield Plantation.

For more information please see:

• the Slaves of Edward T. Heriot page
• the Slaves of Dr. James Ritchie Sparkman page

Labor Contracts

After the Civil War Dr. Sparkman signed labor contracts with the freed men and women willing to work on the Dirleton Plantation.^[7]

• Ned
• Hector
• Gabriel
• Will Keith
• Charles
• Harley
• Jack
• Abraham
• Ruth
• Katy
• Eve
• Daphney
• Rose
• Lizzett

Between 1866 and 1867 the plantation seems to have been run or managed by S. B. Calcutt who signed another labor contract with freed men and women.^[8]

• Jack Lodging
• Tony Brownfield
• Peter McCants
• Tony ?Ptasill?
• Jackey Smith
• Tyre Blythe
• Diana Edwards
• Mary Anne
• Tammer
• Katte
• Mary
• Julia Anne
• Hannah
• Stephney
• Paul Danlerr?
• Nanny
• Daniel Haclley?
• Elizabeth Gourdine
• Bright Gourdine
• Jacob Hariot
• James Green

Cemetery

Dirleton Plantation also houses a cemetery. The following are interred there:^[9]

• Florence Clark 1929 – 1971
• Prince Gathers 1865 – 12 Aug 1935
• James Gourdine 1861 – 30 Apr 1915
• Louis Grate Apr 1939 – 23 Apr 1939
• Hattie Funny Hayward 1898 – 13 Nov 1937
• Herman Lance 18 Feb 1908 – 23 Feb 1957
• Infant Lance 15 Sep 1944 – 16 Sep 1944
• Susan Unknown unknown – Feb (likely Susan Small Tucker)
• Unknown Unknown Birth and death dates unknown.
• Rev David L. Wilson 4 Jul 1904 – 4 Aug 1984
• Janie Wilson 15 Aug 1900 – 23 Nov 1973

Sources

1. ↑ Dirleton Plantation memorandum book, 1859-1928 (bulk 1859-1865) Sparkman, James Ritchie, 1815-1897 https://researchworks.oclc.org/archivegrid/data/32141216
2. ↑ https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/40bc32c2-5b13-46ee-9f64-fdc449b10216
3. ↑ https://south-carolina-plantations.com/georgetown/dirleton.html
4. ↑ https://www.loc.gov/resource/hhh.sc0519.photos/?sp=1
5. ↑ Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War: "Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War"
   Catalog: Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War Paul D. Weston papers - estate papers, 1830- 1867 John Sparkman plantation book, 1859-1864 Joshua John Ward plantation journals, 1800-1869 Dr. Andrew Hasell medical account book, 1830- 1842 Reverend Alexander Glennie parish diary, 1832- 1859 Thomas Aston Coffin plantation book, 1800-1813 Daniel Webb plantation books, v. 1-4, 1817-1842
   Film number: 008891450 > image 97 of 1089
   FamilySearch Image: 3QHV-R3GS-99ZJ-1 (accessed 25 January 2024)
   • Dr. Sparkman Plantation Journal, ca.1859
6. ↑ Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War: "Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War"
   Catalog: Records of ante-bellum Southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War Paul D. Weston papers - estate papers, 1830- 1867 John Sparkman plantation book, 1859-1864 Joshua John Ward plantation journals, 1800-1869 Dr. Andrew Hasell medical account book, 1830- 1842 Reverend Alexander Glennie parish diary, 1832- 1859 Thomas Aston Coffin plantation book, 1800-1813 Daniel Webb plantation books, v. 1-4, 1817-1842
   Film number: 008891450 > image 100 of 1089
   FamilySearch Image: 3QHV-53GS-99W5-W (accessed 25 January 2024)
   • Dr. Sparkman Plantation Journal Birth Records
7. ↑ South Carolina, Freedmen'...Office Records, 1865-1872: "South Carolina, Freedmen'...Office Records, 1865-1872"
   Catalog: Records of the field offices for the state of South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872 Register of complaints, Nov. 1865-Apr. 1866; Register of rations issued to destitutes, Jan.-Sept. 1867; Register of contracts, Dec. 1865-Apr. 1866; Labor contracts, Dec. 1865-Apr. 1866; Labor contracts, May 1865-Mar. 1867 [NARA M1910 roll 76].
   Image path: South Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872 > Georgetown (subassistant commissioner) > Roll 76, Labor contracts, May 1865-Mar 1867 > image 281 of 673; citing NARA microfilm publication M1910 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)
   FamilySearch Image: 3QS7-89ZG-CS6Z (accessed 26 January 2024)
   • 1865 Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contract, Dirleton Plantation
8. ↑ South Carolina, Freedmen'...Office Records, 1865-1872: "South Carolina, Freedmen'...Office Records, 1865-1872"
   Catalog: Records of the field offices for the state of South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872 Register of complaints, Nov. 1865-Apr. 1866; Register of rations issued to destitutes, Jan.-Sept. 1867; Register of contracts, Dec. 1865-Apr. 1866; Labor contracts, Dec. 1865-Apr. 1866; Labor contracts, May 1865-Mar. 1867 [NARA M1910 roll 76].
   Image path: South Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Field Office Records, 1865-1872 > Georgetown (subassistant commissioner) > Roll 76, Labor contracts, May 1865-Mar 1867 > image 390 of 673; citing NARA microfilm publication M1910 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.)
   FamilySearch Image: 3QS7-99ZG-C9FY (accessed 26 January 2024)
   • 1866-1867, Freedmen's Bureau Labor Contract, Dirleton Plantation, S. B. Calcutt
9. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2410607/memorial-search?cemeteryName=Dirleton%20Plantation%20Slave%20Cemetery