Bonnie Doone Plantation – Walterboro – Colleton County

— Oil Painting of Bonnie Doone Plantation © Darlene Usry-Byrd, 2014 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Basic Information

• Location – Horseshoe Creek, a branch of the Ashepoo River, Walterboro, St. Bartholomew's Parish, ACE Basin, Colleton County

  Follow SC 64 to Ritter Road and turn left onto Bonnie Doone Road
  

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – ?

  Bonnie Doone includes Ashland Plantation, Chessey Plantation, Dehon Plantation, Neyle Plantation, and Sterling Plantation.
  

• Current status – Owned by The Slivka Family Children's Trust (2019)
  

Timeline

• 1722 – Earliest known date of existence
  

  Royal land grant given to William Hopton
  

• ? – Dr. Theodore DeHon purchased the property and built the plantation's first house (7)
  

• 1865 – Original house and outbuildings burned by Union troops (7)
  

• 1865-1911 – The property was mostly used for growing rice and was sold a few times. There was no house during this time (7)
  

• 1931 – New York stockbroker Alfred H. Caspary purchased the plantation and built the current house (6) (7)
  

  The 9,700 square foot house was completed in 1932 is built in the Georgian style and has 32 rooms, including 12 bedrooms.

• 1955 – Alfred H. Caspary passed away with Bonnie Doone falling into his estate (7)
  

• 1965 – Plantation purchased by the Charleston Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of the United States (7)
  

  Laurie Hanna Jones shares, "The Charleston Presbytery purchased the plantation and did a tremendous amount of renovation of the Big House and the other buildings which still stand today. They also built the in-ground pool and a recreational building which stands behind the caretaker's house. A bridge was built to what is known as Vesper Island and benches were built there for worship."
  

• 1978 – The Charleston Baptist Association purchased the plantation and operated it as a camp and conference center (7).
  

• 2019 – The Slivka Family Children's Trust purchased the plantation from the Charleston Baptist Association for $2.45 million (6).
  

Land

• Number of acres – At one time, the plantation comprised 15,000 acres. The present acreage is 131 (7)
  

• Primary crop – Rice

  Although Sherman's troops burned the house in 1861, rice continued to be grown on the plantation until 1911. The rice fields are visible today.
  

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Bischoff, A. H. Caspary (1931), Charleston Baptist Association (?-2019), Charleston Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of the United States (cira late 1960s-late 1970s), Chessey, Colcock, Dr. Theodore DeHon (1861), Delton, Eckhardt, Henry T. Ferguson (1846-1859), Fishburne, Wilmot S. Gibbes, Grace, Henderson, Sampson W. Leith, Neyle, Cotesworth Pinckney, Fishburne, Pringle, Rhett, Richmond, Paul Sanders (1931), Slivka Family Children's Trust (2019-present), Stokes, Wichman
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• Current mansion used in the movie Scarlett

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. Sankofa's Plantation Data Collection
   

3. Lucius G. Fishburne, Plantation Notes, St. Bartholomew's Parish, 1960, held by the South Carolina Historical Society
   

4. Sherry J. Cawley, Around Walterboro South Carolina: Postcard History (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 1998)
    Order Around Walterboro South Carolina: Postcard History
   

5. Suzanne Cameron Linder, Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of the ACE River Basin - 1860 (Columbia, SC: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 1995)
    Order Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of the ACE River Basin - 1860
   

6. Historic Colleton County plantation sells for $2.4M (Charleston, SC: WCSC, 2019)
   

7. Bonnie Doone - North American Country Estates