Midway Plantation – Berkeley County

Basic Information

• Location – St. Johns Parish, Berkeley County

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – Midway Reserve (6, p. 22)

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence

• ? – House built

• ? – John Coming Ball Sr owned the plantation (6, p. 22).
  

• ? – John Ball Jr was the next owner. He most likely inherited Midway upon his father's death in 1817 (1).
  

• 1834 – John Ball Jr passed away from malaria. At the time of his death, he owned at least five plantations (2).
  

• 1835 – Sales were held for John Ball Jr's estate. Including the sale of 600 slaves, the largest known slave auction in US history. Ball Jr's widow, Ann Simons Ball, purchased Comingtee and Midway which composed 3,517 acres in total. Ann also purchased 215 of the slaves (2).
  

• 1840 – Ann Simons Ball passed away (4).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 150 in 2002 (6, p. 22)

• Primary crop – Rice (5, p. 12) (6, p. 22)

Slaves

• Number of slaves – 126 in 1834. See the probate inventory for listing of the enslaved persons (3).

Buildings

• One-story frame house built in 1990; metal tractor shed built in 1985 (6, p. 22)

References & Resources

1. Midway Plantation, Berkeley County, South Carolina - WikiTree
   

2. Jennifer Berry Hawes, How a Grad Student Uncovered the Largest Known Slave Auction in the U.S. (ProPublica: June 16, 2023) - contributed by Meghan Garmany
   

3. Slaves of John Ball Jr on Midway Plantation, South Carolina - WikiTree
   

4. Comingtee Plantation, Berkeley County, South Carolina - WikiTree
   

5. Ball Family Papers, 1631-1895 (PDF) - held by the South Carolina Historical Society
   

6. National Register of Historic Places - Cooper River Historic District
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 2002
   – Photographs, overview