Old Fort Plantation – Beaufort – Beaufort County

Basic Information

• Location – Beaufort, St. Helena Parish, Beaufort County

  5 Miles from Beaufort (1, V: 8)

• Origin of name – Named after the tabby ruins of a structure known as Spanish Fort (1, V: 8)
  

• Other names – Smith's

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• 1785 – Earliest known date of existence

• ? – House built

  House built by Captain John Joyner Smith (1, V: 8).
  

• 1860 – John J. Smith owned the plantation (4).
  

• 1861 – Union troops occupied the property (1, V: 8).
  

• 1864-1866 – The plantation was used as a 'contraband school' to educate escaped slaves by the Union (1, V: 8).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 700 in 1850

• Primary crop – Sea island cotton
  

Owners

• Alphabetical list – John Joyner, John Joyner Smith
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – 131 in 1860 (4)

• John Joyner Smith built a mission church on his plantation for the slaves (3, p. 358).
  

References & Resources

1. 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
   

2. News & Courier Newspaper (predecessor to the Charleston Post & Courier) February 26, 1933 issue reprint of Free South April 4, 1863 listing of St. Helena Island plantation sales prior to the Civil War
   

3. Lawrence S. Rowland, Alexander Moore, and George C. Rogers, Jr. The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina: Volume 1, 1514-1861 (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1996)
    Order The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina: Volume 1, 1514-1861

4. Information contributed by Kate Eakman from Ancestry.com.