Cow Savanna Plantation – Dorchester County

Basic Information

• Location – St George's Parish, Dorchester County

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – ?

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence

• ? – Richard Baker (II) was in possession of the property. It is not known how or when he acquired it.
  

• 1742 – Richard Baker (II) owned Lot 8 in the town of Dorchester. His lot was situated along the Ashley River with a wharf running into the river from the south end of the lot. There were three buildings on his lot: a house, kitchen, and warehouse. The warehouse could hold 1,000 barrels of rice. It is assumed that Richard Baker (II) allowed people to store their rice in his warehouse for a fee. Since he had his own schooner he probably charged people to ship their rice to Charleston as well. Richard Baker (II) was a wealthy planter who probably made even more money storing and shipping other people's rice (2).
  

• 1752 – Richard Baker (II) died on July 16, the result of a duel with Joseph Butler. It is not known why they were dueling. At the time of his death he was quite a wealthy planter (4, p. 21-22).
  

  In his will he left Cow Savanna to his son, Richard Bohun Baker (III) along with his two other plantations - Archdale Hall and Jack Savanna. A third plantation, Baldrick was left to his grandson George Logan. It was located on the Cooper River in St James Goose Creek Parish and contained 540 acres (5).
  

  Click here to read excerpts of the will.
  

  It is not known what happened to the lot in the town of Dorchester. The town has since disappeared and the site is known as Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site, owned by the South Carolina State Park Service. It is open to the public.
  

Land

• Number of acres – 200 in 1752

• Primary crop – Rice

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Richard Baker II (?-1752); Richard Bohun Baker III (1752-?); Dr. Fabricus Perry; Thomas Waring
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• ?

References & Resources

1. Families in Lowcountry South Carolina - information on the Baker and Bohun families
   

2. Colonial Dorchester WebQuest - scroll down to Lot 8 at the bottom of the page
   

3. Legare Walker, Dorchester County (Published by J.W. Parker, 1979)
   

4. Martha Zierden, Jeanne Calhoun, and Debi Hacker-Norton, Archdale Hall: Investigations of a Lowcountry Plantation (Charleston, SC: Charleston Museum, 1985)
    Order Archdale Hall: Investigations of a Lowcountry Plantation

5. 1752 Will of Richard Baker (II). Record of Wills, Charleston County, Volume 7, p. 35 (on microfilm at the Charleston County Public Library).