Willtown Bluff Plantation – Adams Run – Charleston County

— Willtown Bluff Plantation © Brandon Coffey, 2008 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Basic Information

• Location – Edisto River, Adams Run, St. Paul's Parish, Charleston County, ACE Basin

  Located off SC 164 on Willtown Road
  

• Origin of name – The nearby village was called Wiltown probably for William of Orange (2, p. 627).
  

• Other names – Wilton, New Hope
  

• Current status – Privately owned
  

— Willtown Bluff Historical Marker © Gazie Nagle, 2011 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Timeline

• 1714 – Earliest known date of existence

  Granted to Landgrave Robert Daniel (2, p. 628)
  

• 1756 – Tract purchased by William Elliott from John Ash (2, p. 628)
  

• ? – Ann Morris, William Elliott's daughter, inherited the property from her father (2, p. 628).
  

• ? – Ann's son, Lewis Morris, V, became owner (2, p. 629).
  

• 1809 or 1820 – House built by Lewisand Elizabeth Manigault Morris, V (2, p. 629)

  An alternate date of the home's construction may have been 1820 (1, p. 2).

• 1863 – Lewis died after witnessing his property destroyed by warring factions. Many houses in the area were burned but the house at Willtown Bluff was spared (2, p. 634).
  

  The house may have been used as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War (1, p. 3).

• 1871 – Morris' heirs sold the plantation to Edward Manigault Barnwell (2, p. 634).
  

• 1885 – John Grimball purchased the property from Edward Manigault Barnwell (2, p. 634).
  

• 1893 – John Grimball sold Willtown Bluff to Christopher FitzSimons (2, p. 634).
  

• 1911 – Christopher FitzSimons transferred ownership to Samuel G. FitzSimons (2, p. 634).
  

• 1925 – Samuel G. FitzSimons sold Willtown Bluff to William E. Harmon (2, p. 635).
  

• 1930 – Harmon's estate sold the plantation to Arthur Whitney (2, p. 635).
  

• 1945 – Hugh Lane became the plantation's owner (2, p. 635). His family continues to hold it.
  

Land

• Number of acres – 1,016 in 1714; 623 in 1851

• Primary crop – Rice

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Mr. and Mrs. Donald Allston; John Ash (?-1756); Edward Manigault Barnwell (1871-1885); William Elliott (1756-?); Christopher FitzSimons (1893-1911); Samuel G. FitzSimons (1911-1925); John Grimball (1885-1893); William E. Harmon (1925-1930); Hugh Lane (1945-?); Ann Morris; Elizabeth Manigault Morris; Colonel Lewis V. Morris (?-1863); Mr. and Mrs. Harold Stanley
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

  We are actively seeking information on the slaves who lived and worked at this plantation. If you find a resource that might help, please fill out this form. Thank you.
  

Buildings

• Elizabeth Manigault Morris' father was a noted amateur architect. The house at Willtown Bluff is of Federal style with a polygonal room (2, p. 629).
  

References & Resources

1. National Register of Historic Places
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1974
   – Photographs, architectural overview
   

2. 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) pp. 625-639
    Order Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of the ACE River Basin - 1860
   

3. 30-15 Plantation File, held by the South Carolina Historical Society

4. Margaret F. Kemp, Colleton County, South Carolina: A Pictorial History (Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Company, 1994)
   

5. Hanna Raskin, Home Movie from the 1940s Captures Traditional Reaping Methods at Willtown Bluff, (Charleston, SC: The Post and Courier, July 20, 2016) - home movie recording (no audio) of African-American men and women reaping rice with sickles in 1941