Rabbit Point Plantation, Charleston County, South Carolina

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: slavery black_heritage

US Index of Plantations

South Carolina Plantations

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Owners 1.2 Slaves 1.3 Cemetery 2 Sources

Background

The original grant to Henry Bower in 1697 for what became Rabbit Point included 600 acres in one strip.^[1] The property was split in half in 1753-54, (by William Bower for Richard & Martha Jenkins, half, and William May the other half) but seems to have been reconnected by the early 1800s. James Clark and Archibald Clark may have been involved in this property as well.^[2][3][4]

Mary Corbet owned Rabbit Point during the years 1829-1833 when she mortgaged it in 1829, through Ephraim Baynard. The mortgage was satisfied in 1833.^[5][6] It is unknown who Mary Corbett was, possibly the widow of Dr. Corbett who died in 1825 in Charleston.^[7]

At some point after this mortgage Rabbit Point Plantation came into the hands of Ephraim M. Baynard who was considered to be the wealthiest man on Edisto Island. But he was in poor health and the people on his plantations feared his wrath. He provisioned his slaves unfavorably in comparison to other plantations on the island.^[8]

In 1850, Rabbit Point consisted of 500 acres.^[8]

Baynard mortgaged Rabbit Point Plantation in Apr 1864 to H. & Benj L. Willingham.^[9] along with a number of other plantations he owned at the time.

After the Civil War, Baynard's trustee, Thomas H. Willingham, would seek return of his properties to his estate. Rabbit Point was one of these properties.^[10]

Owners

• Henry Bower
• William Bower (possibly the son of William Bower)
• Richard Jenkins from William Bower
• William May from William Bower
• James Clark from Henry Bower

• Mary Corbett

• Ephraim Mikell Baynard (1797 - 1865)

Slaves

For more information please see the following:

• Slaves of Richard Jenkins
• Slaves of William May
• Slaves of James Clark
• Slaves of Ephraim Mikell Baynard

Cemetery

There is a cemetery on Rabbit Point Plantation.^[11]

Sources

1. ↑ Memorials of seventeenth and eighteenth century South Carolina land titles and index to auditor general memorials, 1731-1775: "Memorials of seventeenth and eighteenth century South Carolina land titles and index to auditor general memorials, 1731-1775"
   Catalog: Memorials of seventeenth and eighteenth century South Carolina land titles and index to auditor general memorials, 1731-1775 Memorial books, v. 7-8
   Film number: 008621906 > image 108 of 1186
   FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C34L-W9R8-J (accessed 14 May 2023)
   • Bk 7 p.60-61
2. ↑ Inventory of the Esther Kaplan Pivnick Collection, 1863 - 2000 https://avery.cofc.edu/archives/Pivnick_Esther.html Box 3 Folder 11 George Washington Seabrook and Family, 1866-1960, and undated Includes typed and handwritten notes; photocopied letters from George's sons, James Clark and Archibald Clark, (1866, 1880); information regarding property owned (Jenkins Point, Rabbit Point and The Cottage).
3. ↑ Memorials of seventeenth and eighteenth century South Carolina land titles and index to auditor general memorials, 1731-1775: "Memorials of seventeenth and eighteenth century South Carolina land titles and index to auditor general memorials, 1731-1775"
   Catalog: Memorials of seventeenth and eighteenth century South Carolina land titles and index to auditor general memorials, 1731-1775 Index, Aal, Philip to Craven County (1768)
   Film number: 008507442 > image 805 of 1776
   FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C3SL-89NQ-L (accessed 15 May 2023)
   • see Henry Bower, James Clark connection
4. ↑ Memorials of seventeenth and eighteenth century South Carolina land titles and index to auditor general memorials, 1731-1775: "Memorials of seventeenth and eighteenth century South Carolina land titles and index to auditor general memorials, 1731-1775"
   Catalog: Memorials of seventeenth and eighteenth century South Carolina land titles and index to auditor general memorials, 1731-1775 Memorial books, v. 3-4
   Film number: 008621904 > image 229 of 1183
   FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C34L-L9QQ (accessed 15 May 2023)
   • James Clark deed to James and Jeremiah Clark
5. ↑ Charleston city, Charleston County and South Carolina miscellaneous land records, 1719-1873; index to land records, 1719-1898: "Charleston city, Charleston County and South Carolina miscellaneous land records, 1719-1873; index to land records, 1719-1898"
   Catalog: Charleston city, Charleston County and South Carolina miscellaneous land records, 1719-1873; index to land records, 1719-1898 Land records, v. U9-X9 1827-1829
   Film number: 008300026 > image 298 of 1226
   FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-CSR8-X992-3 (accessed 14 May 2023) 9 p.520*Deed Bk U
6. ↑ Unclassified: Film number: 008689266 > image 30 of 104
   FamilySearch Image: 3QHV-F3ZY-Q96T-F (accessed 15 May 2023)
   • Mary Corbett city business directory
7. ↑ https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charleston-mercury-1825-dr-corbett/124749474/
   • The Charleston Mercury, Charleston, South Carolina, Wed, Nov 16, 1825, Page 3
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Spencer, Charles, Edisto Island 1663 to 1860: Wild Eden to Cotton Aristocracy Charleston, SC: The History Press (2012) https://www.google.com/books/edition/Edisto_Island_1663_to_1860/12mNCQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Rabbit+Point+Plantation+Edisto+Island&pg=PT145&printsec=frontcover p. 151
9. ↑ Charleston city, Charleston County and South Carolina miscellaneous land records, 1719-1873; index to land records, 1719-1898: "Charleston city, Charleston County and South Carolina miscellaneous land records, 1719-1873; index to land records, 1719-1898"
   Catalog: Charleston city, Charleston County and South Carolina miscellaneous land records, 1719-1873; index to land records, 1719-1898 Land records, v. U14 1863-1871
   Film number: 008300062 > image 105 of 245
   FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-CSR8-X2Y1 (accessed 15 May 2023)
10. ↑ United States, Freedmen's...t Commissioner, 1865-1872: "United States, Freedmen's...t Commissioner, 1865-1872"
    Catalog: Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the state of South Carolina, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870 Unregistered Applications for Restoration of Property, L-Z 1865-1868. (NARA Series M869, Roll 31)
    Image path: United States, Freedmen's Bureau, Records of the Assistant Commissioner, 1865-1872 > South Carolina > Roll 31, Unregistered applications for restoration of property, L-Z, 1865-1868 > image 615 of 740; citing multiple NARA microfilm publications; Records of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1861 - 1880, RG 105; (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1969-1980).
    FamilySearch Image: 3Q9M-C9TZ-8QSG-6 (accessed 15 May 2023)
    • Freedmens Bureau, application for restoration of property
11. ↑ https://www.charlestoncounty.org/departments/zoning-planning/files/1992-Survey.pdf
    • p.28

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