Round O Plantation – Edisto River – Colleton County

Basic Information

• Location – Lower Edisto River, Colleton County

• Origin of name – ?

  This name dates from 1709. According to the late Alex S. Salley, it was named for the Round-O Creek which preserved the moniker of a famous indian chief who had a purple medallion tattooed on his shoulder. The English traders found it easier to identify him by this ornament than by his lengthy name (2, XII: 12).
  

• Other names – ?

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence

• ? – House built

• ? – Paul Smizer acquired the property (3).
  

• 1786 – Paul Smizer drafted a will and died on the same day. His will declared half of his estate was to go to daughter Dorothy Smizer Lee and the other half to be divided evenly between grandchildren Jacob Alison and Regina Alison. Jacob and Regina where the children of Dorothy and minors at this time. Dorothy Smizer petitioned the court to be able to sell her father's estate and the case was decided in her favor. The assumption is that she proceeded with the sale of her father's property including Round O Plantation (3).
  

• ? – Ann Elliott Morris acquired the plantation (4, p. 575).
  

• 1848 – Ann Elliott Morris passed away and much of her land was put up for public auction in 1850 (4, p. 575).
  

Land

• Number of acres – Approximately 1,750 in 1786 (3)
  

• Primary crop – Although most plantations in this area grew rice, it is of note that rice was not grown at Round O in the 1800s (4, p. 575)
  

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Dupont; Heyward; Hagood; Morris; Smizer

Slaves

• Number of slaves – Approximately 60 in 1786 (3)
  

References & Resources

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

2. 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
   

3. Information contributed by Albert N Balzano from: Complaint and Order of the Court - in regards to the estate of Paul Smizer
   

4. 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