Basic Information
- Location – North Santee River, Minim Island, Georgetown County
- Origin of name – ?
- Other names – ?
- Current status – Privately owned
Timeline
- 1735 – Earliest known date of existence when John Vanderhorst was granted 390 acres of land (Rice Hope Plantation Land Documents, p. 1).
- ? – William Vanderhorst owned the property (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- 1756 – Thomas Lynch purchased 390 acres from his second wife's brother, William Vanderhorst (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – The property was handed down to Lynch's son, Thomas Lynch II (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – Thomas Lynch III became owner.
Both father and son represented South Carolina at the Continental Congress and were to be signers of the Declaration of Independence. Only Thomas Lynch III would ultimately sign as his father died from a stroke before he was able to sign the historic document (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – James Kinloch was the owner of a large tract after several divisions and additions were made the plantation's acreage over the years (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – The holding passed to James Kinloch's son, Francis Kinloch (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- 1767 – Francis Kinloch died leaving the plantation jointly to his sons Francis Kinloch II and Cleland Kinloch (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – Kinloch bothers sold to partners George Lockney and Edward Crook (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – Lockney died and the property would eventually end up in the hands of Crook's heirs (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – Johnathan Lucas purchased part of the land holding (Rice Hope Plantation History).
Lucas never called Rice Hope his residence but did successfully grow rice on the plantation. Both he and his son, Johnathan Lucas II, developed machinery that greatly improved rice milling (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – Simons Lucas, Johnathan Lucas II's son, became owner of the property and continued to run it as a successful rice plantation (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- Circa 1836 – Simons Lucas built a house on the property (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – Simons Lucas' great-granddaughter married Frederick Wentworth Ford. Ford continued to run the rice plantation until 1908 when a flood destroyed the rice fields. He tried to rebuild the fields but his efforts proved futile (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- 1926 – Ford sold the property to William Beach who used it as a hunting preserve. Beach also modernized the house (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- Mid 1950s – Williams Furniture Corporation, based out of Sumter, purchased the plantation (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- ? – Rice Hope was sold to a group of investors (Rice Hope Plantation History).
- 1982 – Plantation acquired by current owners, a group of six businessmen (Rice Hope Plantation History).
Land
- Number of acres – 390 in 1756; 392 present day (Rice Hope Plantation History)
- Primary crop – Indigo, Rice
Owners
- Chronological list – John Vanderhorst (1735-?), William Vanderhorst (?-1756), Thomas Lynch (1756-?), Thomas Lynch II, Thomas Lynch III, James Kinloch, Francis Kinloch (?-1767), Francis Kinloch II and Cleland Kinloch (1767-?), George Lockney and Edward Crook, Crook, Johnathan Lucas, Simons Lucas, Frederick Wentworth Ford (?-1926), William Beach (1926-?), Williams Furniture Corporation (mid 1950s)
Slaves
- Number of slaves – 88
Buildings
- At the time of Francis Kinloch's death in 1767, his probate inventory included a small building on the property. It is unclear if this building was a house or more of a plantation office. This building would be lost to fire (Rice Hope Plantation History).
Circa 1836, Simons Lucas built a house at Rice Hope (Rice Hope Plantation History).
Web Resources
- Rice Hope Plantation History: Click here
- Rice Hope Plantation Land Documents: PDF
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
- George C. Rodgers, Jr., The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina
(Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Company, 1990)
Order The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina - 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
More about Georgetown County
- Learn more about historic Georgetown County, including the lovely town of Georgetown SC. We have helpful guides to Georgetown SC history and Georgetown SC libraries and museums – plus Georgetown SC restaurants, Georgetown SC bed & breakfasts, Georgetown SC hotels, and Georgetown SC real estate.
