Great Swamp Plantation – Walterboro – Colleton County

Basic Information

• Location – Between Walterboro and Ritter, Colleton County

  SC Highway 303 (1)
  

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – ?

• Current status – Plantation subdivided into 5 sections, each privately owned (1)
  

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence

  James Goodwin Sr acquired the property (1).
  

• ? – House built

• 1850 – James Goodwin Sr gave the plantation to his son, Isham Goodwin (1).
  

• 1867 – Isham Goodwin died and the plantation passed to his wife (1).
  

• 1892 – Mrs. Goodwin passed away. Great Swamp Plantation was then divided into five sections, with one section each going to the Goodwin children (1).
  

  Over the years, the Goodwin children sold their property and moved to other areas of South Carolina and Georgia (1).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 602 historically (1)
  

• Primary crop – Timber, food crops and cotton (1)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

• The first slave James Goodwin Sr. purchased was named Issac. Goodwin then bought a wife for Issac named Sophia. Issac and Sophia took the surname Goodwin. The slaves worked all three of Goodwin's plantations, Great Swamp Plantation, Little Swamp Plantation, and Salkehatchie Plantation.
  

  Issac and Sophia Goodwin are buried in the Goodwin Cemetery located off Highway 362. Other slaves, and their descendants that were sharecroppers after they were freed, are also buried in the Goodwin Cemetery, many in unmarked graves. Graves marked with headstones include:
  
  – Jimmy Goodwin, 1819-1905
  – Daniel H. Goodwin Sr, 1854-1915
  – Darkis Goodwin, 1864-1914 (wife of Nelson A. Goodwin)
  – Rosa Goodwin, 1869-1965
  – Hattie R. Goodwin, 1893-1929
  – Andrew Ripley, 1877-1892
  

• In 1858, James Goodwin Sr granted his slaves freedom (1).
  

References & Resources

1. Information contributed by descendant Faye Goodwin Kerstetter from the Goodwin Reunion Book of 1968.