Fife Plantation, Beaufort County, South Carolina

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Background

Fife Plantation is located in what is now Jasper County, SC. It was in St. Peter's Parish, originally, which became Beaufort County, which became Jasper County. It was owned by Thomas (Kettle) Young from the early 1800's (date uncertain) until about 1834 when it was sold to Daniel Heyward Hamilton (1816-1868). Hamilton sold it to cousins William Henry Heyward and James Barnwell Heyward in 1851/1852. The Heywards owned it until the 1868 after which it was owned by Charles Mitchell for an unknown number of years.

Probably due to the sale in 1851/52, a list entitled "A List of the Fife Negroes in Families" was created and is in a College of Charleston archive. In 1865, according to Field Order No. 15, possessory titles to 273 acres were given to the freedmen and women formerly enslaved at Fife, some of whom are on the 1851 list. After the Order was revoked later that year, many of these same people signed labor contracts with William Henry Heyward. Between the 1851 list of people enslaved at Fife, the list of those holding possessory titles (the first time last names are recorded), and the labor contracts, as well as the census of 1870, it is possible for descendants of those enslaved at Fife to find their ancestors. In the years following the Civil War, many of these families settled in nearby Bellinger, Levy and Hardeeville, SC. That is the primary purpose of this page (see note in comments below).

John Heyward Lynah, distant cousin of William and James Heyward, leased Fife from the early 1900's and bought the property in 1914. Together with Rice Hope and Kingstree plantations which were adjacent and which he had bought in 1900, all three places became known as "Fife." The property is now owned in part by John Lynah's descendants and in part by the Harrison Family Charitable Trust.

There is a cemetery at Fife with many unmarked graves and five gravestones called the "Church Knoll" or the "Burying Knoll." On what used to be Kingstree, there is a small "burying ground" with about five gravestones.

Slave Owners

• Thomas Young (abt.1800-abt.1840)
• Daniel Heyward Hamilton (1816-1868)
• William Henry Heyward
• James Barnwell Heyward

Slaves

• Parris Small (1839-1911) at Fife Plantation; Private Small has a stone at Fife and as a Civil War Veteran has a pension file with much information in it.
• Silla Grant (1857-)
• Peter Grant (bef.1866-) (Peter was born to Peter Grant below, but was not born yet when 1851 list was created).
• Rentie Morant (1862-1934)

The following is from an archival document that was created in about 1851 entitled "A List of Fife Negroes in Families." The first three columns are word for word transcribed from the archival document:

Note 1: it is possible that Joe Young is the earlier Joe mentioned a few lines above, but because he is the trunk minder, this correlates with other sources that this is, in fact, Joe Young. Note 2:I am not sure which Peggy is Peggy Morant but think it is the one who is 22 not 13 based on who she is living with.

"1865 Possessory Titles given on William Henry Heywards "Fife" plantation on S.C. main. The holders of the titles have contracted to remain on the plantation this year"

March 1866 Labor Contracts between William Henry Heyward and the Freedmen

March 26, 1866 contract between William Heyward and "the mechanics"

List of Employees at Fife Plantation in 1900 in Ledger

List of Employees at Fife in 1913 in ledger

List of Employees at Fife in 1935 in ledger

List of Fife Employees in 1943 in ledger

Gravestones on the "Church Knoll"

Gravestones in another cemetery at Fife "Down Below"

Gravestone on "Murray Hill Island" now part of Fife

Sources

• "List of Fife Negroes in families 1851" https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/lcdl/catalog/lcdl:38985?tify={%22pages%22:[4],%22view%22:%22info%22}
• https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4275948_00309?pId=4088952
• 1850 Slave Schedule of Dr. Daniel Hamilton in St. Peter's Parish. all names around him indicate this is Fife as they are the names of owners of adjacent plantations https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/93308992:8055
• advertisement for Sale of Fife in Savannah Newspaper in 1848: https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn83016085/1848-05-15/ed-1/seq-3/#index=7&rows=12&proxtext=Fife+plantation&sequence=0&words=Fife+Plantation&page=1
• Advertisement for Sale of Fife by will of Thomas Young, deceased in 1834 https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn83016087/1834-11-29/ed-1/seq-1/#sort=date_asc&index=2&rows=12&proxtext=Fife+plantation&sequence=0&words=Fife+plantation&page=1
• freedmen's bureau documentation of Possessory Titles given in 1865: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9ZP-5YBV?i=15&cc=2127881
• Labor contracts between William Heyward and the Mechanics: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89ZG-C5LF?i=386&cc=2127881
• Labor contracts between William Heyward and the Freedmen: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9ZG-CG9C?i=344&cc=2127881