— Tomotley Plantation Avenue of Oaks © Brandon Coffey —

Basic Information

• Location – Sheldon, Prince William Parish, Beaufort County

  Cotton Hall Road, 1½ miles northeast of US 17 (entrance on right side of Cotton Hall Road close to intersection of Old Sheldon Road)
  

• Origin of name – Grey Allred, whose grandparents are the current owners of Tomotley, shared with us, "The origin of the name seems to have come from the Cherokee language; I'm unsure of the meaning."
  

• Other names – Part of Tomotley Barony
  

• Current status – Privately owned
  

— Tomotley Plantation, Christmas Day 2005 © Lisa & Scott Rance —

Timeline

• May 7, 1698 – Earliest known date of existence

  Created by patent
  

• 1706 – Captain Edmund Bellinger, the original owner, died.
  

• 1739 – Edmund Bellinger's grandson (also named Edmund) died. Tomotley Barony was then divided among 14 different family members and other heirs.
  

• 1820 – Avenue of oaks planted by Patience Wise Blackett Izard.
  

• 1865 – Sherman's troops burned the original plantation house. This house was rebuilt in the late 1800s.
  

• 1910 – R.H. McCurdy constructed the existing house.

Land

• Number of acres – 1,400 in 1864

• Primary crop – Cotton and rice

• The avenue of oaks was planted by Patience Wise Blackett Izard circa 1820.
  

— Tomotley Plantation Oaks, 2013 © Michael Kaynard —

Owners

• Chronological order – Captain Edmund Bellinger (1698-1706); Edmund Bellinger (?-1739); DeVeaux; Izard; Eustis; Bull; Pringle; Hutson; Martin; Havenmeyer; McCurdy; Pringle; Billy and Barbara Mixon (1990)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – 56 in 1761; 68 in 1788; 138 in 1860
  

Buildings

• In 2010 Grey Allred shared with us, "The current residence was built by R.H. McCurdy in 1910. There is a second home that was built in the late 1800s after the original house burned, as well as a caretaker's residence, several barns and a stable that survived Sherman's wrath and predates the Civil War."
  

References & Resources

1. 30-15 Plantation File, held by the South Carolina Historical Society

2. 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
   

3. Caption on map of plantations along the Santee River in Upper St. John's Parish, SC 1865
   

4. Suzanne Cameron Linder and Marta Leslie Thacker, Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of Georgetown County and the Santee River (Columbia, SC: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 2001)
    Order Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of Georgetown County and the Santee River

5. Suzanne Cameron Linder, Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of the ACE River Basin - 1860 (Columbia, SC: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 1995)
    Order Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of the ACE River Basin - 1860
   

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.