Wadboo Plantation – Berkeley County
Basic Information
- Location – Western branch of the Cooper River on Biggin and Wadboo creeks, Berkeley County
- Origin of name – Wadboo was the name of the Indian territory (3).
- Other names – Wadboo Barony, Wattboo, Watboo, Watbooe (3)
- Current status – Divided into 24 tracts and sold off in 1782 (4, p. 41-42).
Timeline
- 1683 – Earliest known date of existence
This 12,000-acre tract was granted to Landgrave James Colleton, the third son of Lord Proprietor John Colleton (3) (5, pp. 118-199).
- Circa 1684 – House built
It is thought that Landgrave James Colleton lived at Wadboo while he served as Governor from November 1686 until he was ousted and banished in 1690 (4, p. 34).
- Circa 1706 – Landgrave James Colleton died; the Wadboo property would eventually pass to his son, Landgrave John Colleton (1, XII: 24) (4, p. 34).
- 1755 – Landgrave John Colleton died in England and left Wadboo to his second son, also named John Colleton, who is thought to have never have lived at the property (4, p. 41).
- Circa 1766 – John Colleton passed away leaving the property to his wife Margaret Swainston Colleton (4, p. 41).
- 1769 – Margaret Swainston Colleton died and Wadboo passed to James Edward Colleton (4, p. 41).
- ? – Wadboo was next owned by Sir James Nassau Colleton (4, p. 41).
- 1782 – It is believed that General Marion's last engagement – and victory – with the British happened near the Wadboo house (4, pp. 42-43).
- 1783 – The Colletons were considered Loyalists. After the American Revolution, the Jacksonboro Legislature placed Wadboo as number one on the list of properties to be confiscated and sold. Wadboo was divided into 24 500-acre tracts and sold. The tract with the house was sold to Charles de Tollenare, who died there in 1821 (4, p. 41-42) (5, p. 43).
- 1831 – By this year, Dr. Philip G. Prioleau had acquired the Wadboo house tract as well as several other tracts that had once been part of Wadboo. He combined the tracts to create Sportman's Retreat Plantation (4, p. 43) (5, p. 43).
Land
- Number of acres – 12,000 in 1683 (3).
- Primary crop – Cotton (John Stuart managed Wadboo for James Colleton and evidence indicates that this is where the first cotton gin in South Carolina, and perhaps America, was assembled) (2).
Slaves
- Number of slaves – ?
References & Resources
- 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
- Information contributed by Dee Green.
- Information contributed by Ramona L. Grimsley, Digital Projects Librarian for Berkeley County Library.
- J. Russell Cross, Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley
(Columbia, SC: R.L. Bryan Company, 1985)
Order Historic Ramblin's through Berkeley - John Beaufain Irving, A Day on Cooper River (1842)
(Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2010)
