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Belvidere Plantation – Lake Marion – Orangeburg County
Basic Information
- Location – Submerged under Lake Marion, St John's Berkeley Parish, Orangeburg County
Original plantation lands were located near present-day Eutaw Springs, between the Santee River and Eutaw Creek.
Belvidere was originally in Berkeley County, but in 1908 the county lines were redrawn and the plantation became part of Orangeburg 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
- 1770 – Earliest known date of existence
James Sinkler received a grant for this property.
- 1790 – James Sinkler decided to plant cotton at Belvidere because freshets along the Santee River in St Stephens Parish were ruining his crops at his plantation called Old Santee. He had an overseer live at Belvidere while he maintained a residence at Old Santee (Fishburne, p. 23).
- 1795-1803 – There are two conflicting sources as to when the house at Belvidere was constructed.
Thomas Waterman stated that the house was constructed in 1795. He based this on an architectural analysis of the house in 1939 (Waterman Report).
Anne Sinkler Fishburne stated that the house was built in 1803 by Margaret Cantey Sinkler. Mrs. Fishburne lived at Belvidere at some point as it was her family home
(Fishburne, p. 23).
- 1800 – James Sinkler died. His widow, Margaret Cantey Sinkler, brought her family to live at Belvidere (Fishburne, p. 23).
- ? – William Sinkler, James Sinkler's son, must have inherited the plantation or bought it (Fishburne, p. 23).
- ? – William Sinkler's son, Charles Sinkler, took over the management of the plantation. His wife, Emily Wharton Sinkler, and their five children made Belvidere their home
(Fishburne, p. 23).
Emily Wharton Sinkler wrote many letters to her father in Philadelphia about her life on a southern plantation. Her letters have been published in a book titled An Antebellum Plantation Household by Anne Sinkler Whaley LeClerq.
- 1883 – Charles St George Sinkler (son of Charles and Emily Sinkler) took over the management of Belvidere. He continued to plant cotton but his crops became infested with cotton caterpillars (Porcher & Fick, p. 287).
Charles St George Sinkler married Anne Wickham Porcher on December 6 (Cross, p. 235).
- 1936 – The Santee Jockey Club, founded in 1791, was revitalized and renamed the St John's Jockey Club. A race track was built at Belvidere and the first race was held that November (Fishburne, p. 94-95).
- 1941 – The house at Belvidere was emptied and dismantled, and the family left the property for the last time. The flood waters from the Santee Cooper Hydroelectric and Navigation Project covered all of the fields, slave quarters, race track, gardens, and lawns. The water came up to the base of the dismantled house and remnants of the brick foundation could still be seen in 1949 (Fishburne, p. 2).
Land
- Number of acres – 800
- Primary crop – Santee long cotton and short staple cotton
Owners
- Alphabetical list – Charles St George and Anne Porcher Sinkler, James and Margaret Cantey Sinkler, William and Emily Wharton Sinkler
Slaves
Buildings
- Plantation House – The house was two stories with a full brick basement and brick foundation. A piazza ran across the front with slender columns, and a large wing on one side was balanced with an open, brick-paved sun piazza on the other side (Fishburne, p. 6).
- House plan - rough sketch, 1940
- Front door - photograph
Web Resources
Print Resources
Related search terms: saint john johns southern farm location place history lands crops owner planter planters surname surnames family families slavery life rules building big house home homes slave quarters picture pictures
Common misspellings: utawville utahville southcarolina sc. planation planations plantion plantions
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