Bossis Plantation – Huger – Berkeley County

— Orignial Bossis Plantation House Prior to Burning in 1909 © John St. Clair White —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Note: The Bossis Plantation house has been moved from Berkeley County to Richland County.

Basic Information

• Location of Land – Eastern branch of the Cooper River, Huger, Berkeley County

  Location of House – Hopkins, Richland County

• Origin of name – A speculative tradition holds that slaves called the plantation "Boss's" which was converted to Bossis (2).
  

• Other names – Boss's

• Current status – The house, built in 1910, was moved to Hopkins in 2000 when it was purchased from Westvaco (5).
  
  

— Rebuilt Bossis Plantation House Circa 1911 © John St. Clair White —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence

• ? – John Harleston emigrated and started the plantation (3, p. 162).
  

• ? – Upon John's death, his son Nicholas inherited the plantation (3, p. 162).
  

• 1736 – House built by Nicholas Harleston (3, p. 162).
  

• ? – Nicholas died leaving the plantation to his son Col. John Harleston (3, p. 161).
  

• ? – Nicholas' son Nicholas Harleston II was born after his father's death. John decided to give the plantation to his younger brother, Nicholas II. Nicholas II would spend his lifetime at Bossis and made many improvements to the house and property (3, p. 162).
  

  Bossis Plantation stayed in the Harleston family through the Civil War (3, p. 162).
  

• 1899 – St. Clair White lost his nearby house to fire and Olney Harleston of Bossis took the family in. Mr. White would go on to purchase Bossis from the Harleston family (3, p. 162).
  

• 1909 – House burned on January 30 (6).
  

• 1909 – House rebuilt by St. Clair White using the mantels from the damaged house at nearby Sarazins Plantation. He was able to move into the new house in December (3, p. 162) (6).
  

• 1920s – George A. Ellis, Jr., who had other holdings in the area, including Richmond Plantation, purchased Bossis (2).
  

• 1962 – Westvaco purchased the property from the estate of George A. Ellis, Jr. (2).
  

• 2000 – House moved to Hopkins in Richland County
  
  

— Bossis Plantation Ruins in Huger © Gazie Nagle, 2014 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Land

• Number of acres – ?

• Primary crop – Rice

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

— Bossis Plantation House After Moved to Hopkins © Lori Wilhoit —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Buildings

• St. Clair White built a two-story frame Colonial Revival style house in 1910; the original had burned the year before. The house was moved to Hopkins in 2000.
  

— Bossis Plantation Shed in Huger © Gazie Nagle, 2014 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

References & Resources

1. Cooper River Historic District National Register Nomination

2. Cooper River Historic District National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet

3. John Beaufain Irving, A Day on Cooper River (1842) (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010)
   
   
   — Bossis Plantation Avenue in Huger, SC © Brandon Coffey —
   (Do Not Use Without Written Consent)
   
   
   
   — Bossis Plantation Ruins in Huger © Gazie Nagle, 2014 —
   (Do Not Use Without Written Consent)
   
   
   
   — Bossis Plantation View from Pond in Hopkins © Lori Wilhoit —
   (Do Not Use Without Written Consent)