Basic Information

• Location – Submerged under Lake Moultrie, St John's Berkeley Parish, Berkeley County
  

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – ?

• Current status – In 1939, work began on the Santee Cooper Hydroelectric and Navigation Project. This project displaced many families and communities, and many historic homes were lost as the area was flooded.
  

Timeline

• 1696 – Earliest known date of existence
  

  John Stuart received a grant for 1,000 acres in return for his work reviewing the Fundamental Constitution at the request of Sir James Colleton. Stuart had difficulty obtaining his promised land but would eventually receive it in small increments. He also added additional lands to his holdings and ended up with several thousand acres. (Learn more about John Stuart and his land grant.)
  

• 1698 – Stuart conveyed 804 acres to Reverend William Screven. Screven named his property Somerton Plantation (South Carolina Historical Magazine).
  

• 1700 – Screven added 300 additional acres to his holdings.
  

• 1708 – Screven conveyed the property to Renè Ravenel (South Carolina Historical Magazine).

• 1736 – David Ravenel left Somerton to his son Daniel on July 27. David had inherited the plantation from his brother Paul.

• 1836 – A house was built by Frederick Adolphus Porcher.

Land

• Number of acres – 804 in 1698; 1,104 in 1700

• Primary crop – ?

Owners

• Chronological list – John Stuart (1696-1698), Reverend William Screven (1698-1708), Renè Ravenel (1708-?), Paul Ravenel, David Ravenel (?-1736), Daniel Ravenel (1736-?), Frederick Adolphus Porcher (1836-?)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• ?

Web Resources

• The South Carolina Historical Magazine, Volume 9, Issue 2

Print Resources

• J. Russell Cross, Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley (Columbia, SC: R.L. Bryan Company, 1985)
   Order Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley

• Norman S. Walsh, Plantations, Pineland Villages, Pinopolis and Its People (Virginia Beach, VA: Donning Company Publishers, 2007)
   Order Plantations, Pineland Villages, Pinopolis and Its People