Bloomhill Plantation – Wedgefield – Sumter County

Basic Information

• Location – Wedgefield, St. Mark's Parish, Sumter County

  Located across from Poinsett State Park off SC 261 in the High Hills section
  

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – Millpond, Colonel William Richardson Place
  

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• 1773 – Earliest known date of existence
  

• ? – House built

• ? – Bloomhill was used as a camp site for Francis Marion and his men on at least one occasion. Governor John Rutledge established headquarters here upon the fall of Charleston (6).
  

• 1857 – 4,300 acres were sold to Thomas C. Richardson by John Smythe Richardson, Jr (8).
  

• ? – Thomas Richardson acquired another 365 acres to bring his total acreage to 4,665 (8).
  

• 1869 – The Civil War period was a tough one for Richardson and the plantation was sold to W. H. B. Haynesworth on the steps of the courthouse (8).
  

• 1869 – Haynesworth divided the property selling 4,300 acres to John B. Rogers and 365 acres to A. H. Brailsford (8).
  

• 1870 – John Owen, an Englishman, purchased 4,300 acres from Rogers (5, bk. 3, vol. 20, p. 5).
  

  There was a mill on the plantation which John Owen operated until he died. The mill was sold to a Mr. Christmas who continued to operate the mill. Eventually, the mill was abondoned and fell into disrepair (5, bk. 3, vol. 20, p. 5).
  

• 1903 – Bloomhill remained in the Owen family until it was sold in this year (8).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 8,000 (2, p. 31); 4,300 in 1870 (8); 4,665 in 1869 (8)
  

• Primary crop – Rice

• The Richardson family graveyard is located on this plantation. A servant, Davy, is buried on the west end of the graveyard. His marble tombstone bears the inscription "faithful Davy".
  

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Hampton; W. H. B. Haynesworth (1869-); Manning; John Owen (1870-?); Colonel William Richardson; John Smythe Richardson, Jr. (?-1857); Thomas C. Richardson (1857-?); John B. Rogers (1869-1870)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• ?

References & Resources

1. John Smythe Richardson

2. Elizabeth Buford Richardson, A Genealogical Record with Reminiscences of the Richardson and Buford Families (Macon, GA: J.W. Burke Company, 1906)
   

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

4. Waring Papers file, South Carolina Historical Society
   – Waring family papers, 1707-1989 (bulk 1886-1979)
   – Waring family papers 1755-1915
   

5. 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
   

6. Cassie Nicholes, Historical Sketches of Sumter County Volume II (Sumter, SC: Sumter County Historical Commission 1981)
   
   

7. Josie Platt Parler, The Past Blows By: On the Road to Poinsett Park (Knight Brothers, 1939)
   

8. Information contributed by Margaret Owen Blackstock whose great-great grandfather, Rev. John Owen, owned Bloomhill Plantation.