Hard's Plantation – Colleton County

Basic Information

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

  Historically located at the Horse Shoe Bridge (1)
  

• Origin of name – The plantation was named for early owner Benjamin French Hard (1)
  

• Other names – ?

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence

• ? – House built

• 1825 – Benjamin French Hard owned the plantation, however, he resided in the Ansonborough section of Charleston (1) (2).
  

• Prior to 1839 – Benjamin French Hard sold Hard's Plantation to B. Stiles Rivers. Rivers owned the plantation until his death (1).
  

Land

• Number of acres – ?

• Primary crop – ?

  Ralph Ben Harper shares, "Benjamin French Hard is shown with 'Livery Stables' in Charleston. Given that only 10 slaves, 5 males and 5 females, lived at the plantation in 1830, it is possible that the plantation was more focused on transportation than farming" (2).
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – 10, 5 males and 5 females, in 1830 (2)
  

References & Resources

1. 1860s letter by J.A. Sanders contributed by John Strobel: Click here

2. Information contributed from research by Ralph Ben Harper, whose third-great-grandfather was Hard's Plantation owner, Benjamin French Hard:
   – F Benjamin Hard, United States Census, 1830
   – Free Negro owners of slaves in the United States in 1830, together with Absentee ownership of slaves in the United States in 1830 - p. 64