— Cotton Hall Plantation House about 1970 © —

Basic Information

• Location – Yemassee, Prince William Parish, Beaufort County
  

  Located on Cotton Hall Road off US 17
  

• Origin of name – Named by Daniel Heyward, an early owner
  

• Other names – Part of Tomotley Barony

• Current status – Privately owned

Timeline

• 1777 – Earliest known date of existence

• 1784 – McPherson was owner (Northern Money, p. 51).
  

• 1832 – Daniel Heyward purchased Cotton Hall (Northern Money, p. 51).
  

  It is believed the Heyward family built the original house on the property (Northern Money, p. 49).
  

• 1865 – Original plantation house burned by General Sherman's troops
  

• 1882 – Daniel Heyward conveyed Cotton Hall to his daughter Anne who was married to Charles F. Hanckel (Northern Money, p. 51).
  

• 1883 – Anne sold the 997 acre property to Charles C. J. Hutson and George G. Martin (Northern Money, p. 51).
  

• 1917 – Henry Rast bought the plantation and added an addition 372 acres that had been known as Laurium and another original McPherson holding (Northern Money, p. 51).
  

• 1930 – John K. Hollins purchased a tract of 1797 acres which included Cotton Hall and Laurium (Northern Money, p. 51).
  

• 1930 – Hollins sold the property the same year he acquired it to Harry Payne Bingham (Northern Money, p. 51).
  

  Bingham immediately begun construction on a 26-room house (Northern Money, p. 49).
  

• 1946 – Bingham sold Cotton Hall and Laurium to L. J. Williams (Northern Money, p. 52).
  

• 1948 – Cotton Hall and Laurium were sold by Williams to Harold W. Allen (Northern Money, p. 52).
  

• 1959 – Robert (Ed) Edward Turner Jr. purchased the joint properties from Allen. In 1963, he committed suicide at nearby Bindon Plantation, which he also owned (Northern Money, p. 52).
  

• ? – Ed Turner's son, Ted Turner, sold the plantation to Rural Land Company of Greenville, SC in an effort to secure his father's business entities (Northern Money, p. 125).
  

• ? – Colonel Griffin became owner

• 1971 – Lawrence and Sara Douglas purchased the property from Colonel Griffin.

• 1981 – The Douglases sold Cotton Hall to Joseph Harden.

Land

• Number of acres – 997 in 1883 ; 800 in 2004

• Primary crop – Rice in the 19th century. Corn, hay, sugar cane, and cattle today.
  

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Harold W. Allen (1948-1959), Harry Payne Bingham (1930-1946), Chisolm, DeVeaux, Lawrence and Sara Douglas (1971-1981), Colonel Griffin (?-1971), Anne Heyward Hanckel (1882-1883), Joseph Harden (1981-present), Daniel Heyward (1832-1882), John K. Hollins (1930), Charles C. J. Hutson and George G. Martin (1883-?), McPherson, Palmer, Potter, Henry Rast (1917-?), Rural Land Company, Simmons, Robert (Ed) Edward Turner Jr. (1959-1963), L. J. Williams (1946-1948)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• Plantation house, barn, several other small buildings

Web Resources

• ?
  

Print Resources

• Claude Henry Neuffer, editor, Names in South Carolina, Volume I through 30 (Columbia, SC: The State Printing Company)
   Order Names in South Carolina, Volumes I-XII, 1954-1965
   Order Names in South Carolina, Index XIII-XVIII
  

• Sankofa's Plantation Data Collection
  

• Robert B. Cuthbert and Stephen G. Hoffius, editors, Northern Money, Southern Land: The Lowcountry Plantation Sketches of Chlotilde R. Martin (Columbia, SC: The University of South Carolina Press, 2009)
  
  

More about Beaufort County

• Learn more about historic Beaufort County, including the lovely town of Beaufort SC as well as Hilton Head. We have helpful guides to Beaufort SC history and Beaufort SC libraries and museums – plus Beaufort SC restaurants, Beaufort SC bed & breakfasts, Beaufort SC hotels, and Beaufort SC real estate.