Little River Plantation, Orange County, North Carolina

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Orange, North Carolina, United States [uncertain]
Surnames/tags: Bennehan-Cameron Slavery Black_Heritage

Plantations Index

The Bennehan-Cameron Plantations

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Owners 1.2 Slaves 2 Sources

Biography

The Little River Plantation was located in Orange Co, NC. The Little River store is seen in the Cameron Family Papers as early as 1769. ^[1] It is unknown if the Little River store, located on Snow Hill plantation was moved to another property or if the Snow Hill plantation was divided and Little River Plantation grew out of it.

Owners

The Little River Plantation was one of many plantations owned by Richard Bennehan 1743-1825, a merchant and planter. He was born in Virginia and lived his adult life in Orange Co, NC.

Thomas D. Bennehan 1782-1847, son of Richard Bennehan, was born in Orange Co, NC and there he spent his life. Thomas never married and when he died he gave the bulk of his properties to his nephew, Paul C. Cameron.

Duncan Cameron 1777-1853 was a planter. He spent his adult life in North Carolina where he raised his family. He was the son-in-law of Richard Bennehan, and shared plantations and expenses with the Bennehan family until brother-in-law, Thomas D. Bennehan, died. After that Duncan's plantation partner was his son, Paul C. Cameron.

Paul C. Cameron 1808-1891, raised on Fairntosh plantation, received Stagville and other plantations from his uncle Thomas D. Bennehan when he died in 1847. Paul continued expanding the plantations in North Carolina, and planted new ones in Alabama and Mississippi.

Slaves

1847 The Little River Plantation grew cotton and was worked by slaves.^[1] Thomas D. Bennehan was owner of Little River plantation after his father died. When Thomas died in 1847 the Little River Plantation as listed in his probate inventory, along with the following enslaved on it:^[2]

• Sipio age 68
• Fanny age 42
• Peter age 22, scrofulus
• Charles age 18
• Pegg Jean age 17
• John age 15, scrofulus
• Comfort age 8
• Timothy age 6
• Judey age 2

• Nelson age 34
• Jude age 35
• Mathew age 20
• Willie age 18

• Shadrack age 60
• Milly age 50
• Thena age 25
• Tom age 20
• Letty age 23
• Betsey age 18
• Janett age 13
• Edney age 2

• Jack Fish D. age 35 (he's at Fish Dam plantation)
• Phib age 28
• Nima age 6
• Almet age 3, croup
• Lotty age 3

• Dempsey age 70
• Henderson age 40
• John age 28
• Artelia 20
• Delila age 22
• Misurian age 1

• Patty age 42
• Silas age 20
• Eliza Ann age 18
• Noah age 15
• Kiziah age 12
• Jlai age 5
• Ailcy age 4
• Harriett age 7

• Dosey (Dicey?) age 30
• Susan age 8
• Mary age 4
• Levi age 6

For more information on the enslaved, and the other plantations, please see the Bennehan-Cameron Plantation page.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Cameron Family Papers https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/00133/#folder_3642#1 Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
   • 1769, Folder 3632, Volume 93: 1769-1773
   • Slaves, Folder 3642 (digitized 11 scans), Volume 104: 1808, image 11
2. ↑ Cameron Family Papers https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/00133/ 1847 Thomas Bennehan probate inventory for Little River plantation,
   • Folder 2154, image 17, Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.