Bloomville Plantation – Goose Creek – Berkeley County

Basic Information

• Location – Goose Creek (a branch of the Cooper River), Goose Creek, St. James Goose Creek Parish, Berkeley County

• Origin of name – "The Gibbes family genealogy states that a Gibbes ancestor came from Brome or Broom house in the parish of Backham, Kent in England" (3).
  

• Other names – Broom Hall, Broomville, Broomfield, Bloomfield
  

• Current status – The majority of the property has been developed into neighborhoods. The ruins of the house are tucked away in the woods.
  

Timeline

• 1678 – Earliest known date of existence

  The Grand Council decide to grant Edward Middleton "a greate Lotte of Land" on "the upper part of Adthan [Goose] Creek." In 1680, Middleton took ownership but for only four years (3).
  

• 1684 – Middleton conveyed the property to Robert Mallock, a Charleston merchant. The property then went to Mallock's son (3).
  

• 1708 – Moses Medina purchased the property from Mallock's son for 200 pounds. It is not known how long he owned the property.
  

• ? – Colonel Thomas Broughton acquired the property which was listed as 1,000 acres. Broughton made a fortune from the deerskin trade and decided to try his hand at rice cultivation. For some reason Broughton became disillusioned with his Goose Creek property and sold it to Benjamin Gibbes (3).
  

• 1710 or 1711 – Benjamin Gibbes purchased the property and proceeded to make improvements on the land. He was probably the first person to live on the property. Gibbes and his wife, Jane, made many contributions to the construction and upkeep of the St. James Goose Creek Church. A tablet to their memory can still be found in the church today (3).
  

• 1722 – Benjamin Gibbes died and his estate went to his second wife, Amarinthia, and their daughter. His total estate, which included currency, salves, furnishings and farm tools, was valued at 5,339 pounds (3).
  

• ? – Amarinthia married Captain Peter Taylor and continued to live at Broom Hall. An inventory of Taylor's property indicates that he produced indigo, rice, and corn and owned eighty-one head of cattle, seventeen head of oxen, and about seventy slaves (3).
  

  Captain Taylor built a two-story brick house at Broom Hall (4).
  

• 1765 – Peter Taylor died and left his property to Thomas Smith. None of Taylor's children survived him (3).
  

• 1856 – Henry Arthur Middleton purchased the plantation (4).
  

• 1886 – An earthquake destroyed the house (4).
  

• ? – Westvaco owned the property (4).
  

• 1980 – Most of the plantation's property was subdivided and developed into residential housing communities (4).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 1,000 circa 1709

• Primary crop – Indigo, rice, and corn

• Bloomville had a vast, formal garden (1, p. 26).
  

Owners

• Chronological list – Edward Middleton (1680-1684); Robert Mallock (1684-?); Moses Medina (1708-?); Colonel Thomas Broughton (?-1710); Benjamin Gibbes (1710-1722); Captain Peter and Amarinthia Gibbes Taylor (1722-1765); Thomas Smith (1765-?); Henry Arthur Middleton (1856-?); Westvaco (?)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – 70 under Captain Peter Taylor

Buildings

• The house was destroyed by the 1886 Charleston earthquake (4).
  

References & Resources

1. A Context For the Study of Lowcountry Gardens - PDF - Michael Trinkley and Debi Hacker, 2007, for the Chicora Foundation.
   

2. J. Russell Cross, Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley (Columbia, SC: R.L. Bryan Company, 1985)
    Order Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley

3. Michael J. Heitzler, Goose Creek: A Definitive History - Volume One: Planters, Politicians and Patriots (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2005)
   
   

4. Broom Hall Plantation Marker - HMdb.org