Silver Bluff Plantation, Barnwell County, South Carolina
Location: Barnwell, South Carolina, United States
Surnames/tags: Hammond Slavery
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Location Note: The area of Silverton Township, Barnwell Co., South Carolina is present day Jackson, Aiken County, South Carolina. When researching Hammond's plantations it's important to keep in mind that the area of Barnwell County, which encompassed the plantation lands, became Aiken County after its formation in 1871. Aiken County was formed from parts of Barnwell and Edgefield Counties. Aiken County was the only county founded in South Carolina during Reconstruction. Aiken County's founders were African American leaders and elected representatives.
Contents |
Introduction
The plantation lands called "Silver Bluff" were approximately 10,800 acres in Barnwell County, lying roughly 12 miles south of Augusta, Georgia, along the east bank of the Savannah River.
Owners
- George Galphin (~1709-1780)
- Galphin, Holmes & Co.[1]
- Thomas Galphin (1763-1812)
- Charles Goodwin, Esq. (1757-1827) and Ephraim Ramsay (1766-1801)[2]
- James Beggs (1780-1832) and Christian Breithaupt ("Beggs & Breithaupt" leased and managed the property for Charles Goodwin)
- Barna McKinne (1779-1833);
- Christopher Cashel FitzSimons (1762-1825)
- Catherine E. FitzSimons (1814-1890)
- James H. Hammond (1807-1864) acquired Silver Bluff Plantation in 1831. He took possession of the property that his wife Catherine Fitzsimons inherited from her father Christopher Fitzsimons after his death in 1825. As Hammond's wealth and position grew, so did his plantation lands. In 1855, he acquired Redcliffe Plantation in Edgefield County as the place of the new family estate while the lands and slave quarters that made all the new found opulence possible, were still eight miles to the south at Silver Bluff Plantation, Cathwood Plantation and Cowden Plantation in Barnwell County. At the time of his death, he owned over 14,000 acres, approximately 22 square miles, which included his plantations of Silver Bluff, Cathwood, Cowden and Redcliffe located in two counties, Barnwell and Edgefield, in South Carolina. Today all of his former plantation lands lie within the jurisdiction of Aiken County [3]
Indian Trader
George Galphin started a Deerskin Trading Post at Silver Bluff in the 1740's. He traded British goods for deerskins with the Lower Creek Tribe He learned their language and customs and married Metawney, a Creek woman. He acquired thousands of acres of Creek land through marriage and Treaties. In the 30 or so years as a Trader he became a very wealthy man. In 1779 the British captured Silver Bluff. Later he said, "I lost 129 of my negroes. Some were cared off [by the British] & others was promised there freedom & went off." [4]
American Revolution
Fort Galphin
Fort Galphin was on Silver Bluff at that time owned by George Galphin. He was the Assistant Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He was a devoted friend to the American cause. [5]
Black loyalists
"21 May 1781 (also given as the 19th). [surrender] Fort Galphin, also Fort Dreadnought, and Silver Bluff (Barnwell County, South Carolina) Ft. Galphin, or as it was also known Ft. Dreadnought, was the fortified plantation house of George Galphin, a veteran Indian trader. It was situated about twelve miles down river from Augusta on the northern bank of the Savannah. The post was commanded by Capt. Samuel Rowarth and contained 70 King’s Rangers (to which unit Rowarth belonged), 42 Georgia loyalist militia, and 61 Blacks many of them armed". [6]
In December 1782, Charleston was surrendered to the Americans, and 3,891 persons embarked for Jamaica, of whom 2,613 were blacks. At the same time, twenty whites and three hundred and fifty blacks sailed for St. Luci a. v. It will be remembered that the number carried from Charleston to East Florida was almost equal to that destined for Jamaica. Of the remainder, two hundred and forty sailed for New York, four hundred and seventy, for Halifax, and three hundred and twenty four, for England. [7]
Most Blacks aboard the British transports from Charles Town and Savannah remained in bondage to Loyalists. The three-thousand Loyalists managed to take with them eight-thousand enslaved Blacks. The majority of the immigrants to Jamaica were enslaved, and the British navy paid for their transport. [8]
Religion
The Negro Baptist Church at Silver Bluff, South Carolina, was organized not earlier than 1773, nor later than 1775. [9]
- Rev. David George was one of the constituent members, and the first regular pastor of the Silver Bluff Church. [10]
- Rev. Jesse Peter
Slaves
- Rev. Jesse Peter not listed below as he left and obtained his freedom at the fall of Savanah. However, he returned to Silver Bluff and "resumed the condition of a slave" after the Revolutionary War, and took over the Silver Bluff Baptist Church. (135 enslaved listed below)
| Enslaved people at Silver Bluff Plantation | Owner: George Galphin 1709 - 1780 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | ||||
| David George (1742-1810) | Baptist Minister left with British, New York 1783 | |||
| Sappho | Mulatto, Mother of Galphin's daughters; Rachel & Betsey | |||
| Rachel | freed in father's will | |||
| Betsey | freed in father's will | |||
| Rose | Mother of Galphin's daughter Barbara also a slave | |||
| Barbara | Freed in Galphin's Will[11]. Given land for her lifetime and 17 slaves with their children and future children | |||
| Rose | Daughter of G Galphin and Nitchuckey an American Indian | |||
| Nero | purchased 24 Apr 1777 | |||
| Joe | purchased 24 Apr 1777 | |||
| Hannah | purchased 24 Apr 1777 | |||
| Sarah | purchased 24 Apr 1777 | |||
| Sam | purchased 24 Apr 1777 | |||
| Jamey | purchased 24 Apr 1777 | Carpenter | ||
| Peter | ||||
| Peter's son | ||||
| Nancy | wife children | |||
| Cato | ||||
| Bess | wife | |||
| Sylfa | man | |||
| Joe | ||||
| Cornelia | wife | children | ||
| Kelly's Tom | ||||
| Lucy | wife | children | ||
| Michael | ||||
| Sarah | wife | children | ||
| Coffee | ||||
| Betty | wife | children | ||
| Dooham | ||||
| Jolia | wife | children | ||
| Goodfellow | man | |||
| Sarah | children | had of James Deveaux | ||
| Little Frank | mustee boy | |||
| Davy | man | |||
| Pompey | ||||
| Sarah | wife | children | ||
| Abraham | man | had of Mr. Barnard | ||
| Indian Prince | ||||
| Dick | ||||
| Clarinda | wife | children | ||
| Billy | ||||
| Dina | wife | children | ||
| Dutch-Junny | ||||
| Rockey | Female | children | ||
| Deborah | ||||
| Gwina Tom | ||||
| Juba | wife | children | ||
| French Peter | ||||
| Sylvia | wife | children | ||
| Little Jacob | ||||
| Warick | ||||
| Marcha | wife | children | ||
| Billy | ||||
| Peter | mustees | |||
| Cela | mustees | children | ||
| Kelly's Abraham | ||||
| Elcey | wife | children | ||
| Cyrus | ||||
| Sue | wife | children | ||
| Joe | ||||
| Emma | wife | children | ||
| Old Cyrus | ||||
| Mariah aka Martha | wife | childrren | ||
| Gabriel | ||||
| Minerva | wife | children | ||
| Jacob | ||||
| Cloe | wife | children | ||
| Charlotte | children | |||
| Stepney | ||||
| Margaret | wife | children | ||
| Phina | children | |||
| Mingo | ||||
| Moriah | wife | children | ||
| Ockera | ||||
| Cate | wife | children | ||
| Limerick | ||||
| King | ||||
| Nero | ||||
| Golo | man | |||
| Peter | man | |||
| Oliver | ||||
| Cresha | wife | children | ||
| Dick | ||||
| Peter | bought of Joseph Butler | |||
| Peter's wife | children | |||
| Sapha's children | ||||
| Jack | man | |||
| Bully | man | |||
| Chevers | man | |||
| Dola | 1/2 Indian woman | |||
| Coboy | ||||
| Sarah | wife | children | ||
| August | man Mulatto | |||
| Rose | freed 1780 | |||
| Noel | woman and children | |||
| Kingston | ||||
| Dorkey | wife | children | ||
| Gray's Mack | ||||
| Clarinda | wife | |||
| Sue | children | |||
| Joe | ||||
| Hannah | children | |||
| Long John | ||||
| Sarah | children | |||
| Leander | ||||
| Frank | ||||
| Henry | ||||
| Little March | ||||
| Kate | wife | children | ||
| Ponpon | ||||
| Jemmey | wife | children | ||
| Ned | brother | |||
| Dida | sister | children | ||
| Bidgo | ||||
| Sib | wife | |||
| young Sib | children | |||
| Catch | boy | |||
| Sautee | ||||
| Jemmey | ||||
| Tom | had of Mr. McGilvery, | |||
| Hannah | wife | children | ||
| Indian Peter | ||||
| Capuchey | children | |||
| Georgia Dublin | ||||
| French Jemmey | ||||
| Cossandra | wife | children | ||
| Simon | ||||
| Brin | freed | |||
| Sally | freed | |||
| Clarissa | Mulatto wench | |||
| Moll | ||||
| Judey | children | |||
| Sam | Judey's son | |||
| Lucy | Judey's daughter | |||
| Ketch | boy |
Sources
- ↑ https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/US/7/7.US.220.html
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/cu31924018800304/page/n109/mode/1up
- ↑ http://sankofagen.pbworks.com/w/page/14230808/Silver%20Bluff%20Plantation
- ↑ Rindfleisch, B. C. (2017). THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF GEORGE GALPHIN: FAMILY, EMPIRE, AND REVOLUTION IN THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN SOUTH. The South Carolina Historical Magazine, 118(3), 192–213. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45238237, p. 197, 212
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/historyofedgefie00chap_0/page/155/mode/1up
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ [The legacy of the American revolution to the British West Indies and Bahamas : a chapter out of the history of the American loyalists, by Siebert, Wilbur Henry, p.15, https://archive.org/details/legacyamrev00siebrich/page/15/mode/1up]
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Brooks, W. H. (1922). The Priority of the Silver Bluff Church and its Promoters. The Journal of Negro History, 7(2), 172–196. https://doi.org/10.2307/2713524, p.180
- ↑ Brooks, W. H. (1922). The Priority of the Silver Bluff Church and its Promoters. The Journal of Negro History, 7(2), 172–196. https://doi.org/10.2307/2713524, p. 174, 175
- ↑ Abbeville County, South Carolina, Ninety-Six District, Estate Papers, box 40, pkg 898, citing Will of George Galphin, PB L 51008. South Carolina Department of Archives and History. Please note: Familysearch.org [database online] Probate records, Boxes 40-41, packages 868-934, records #898 is missing from file. Film #004752795 image 191 of 441
- Calendar and Record of the Revolutionary War in the South: 1780-1781, Tenth Edition, By Wm. Thomas Sherman, 2015. https://www.americanrevolution.org/calendar_south_10_ed_update_2017.pdf
- History of Edgefield County : from the earliest settlements to 1897, by Chapman, John Abney, p.155, https://archive.org/details/historyofedgefie00chap_0/page/155/mode/1up
- Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina:, by O'Neall, John Belton, Ephraim Ramsay: https://archive.org/details/cu31924018800304/page/n109/mode/1up
- Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of Chancery, By South Carolina. Court of Appeals in Equity, Henry William De Saussure, V. 3-4, p. 388, Feb. 1813, Abbeville, Heard by Chancellor Thompson. Charles Goodwyn, [3]
- The Silver Bluff Church: A History of Negro Baptist Churches in America, By Walter H Brooks, [4]
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