Cedarfield Plantation – Edgefield – Edgefield County

Basic Information

• Location – Edgefield County

  Original plantation lands were located about three miles north of Edgefield but extended down to present-day Courthouse Square.
  

• Origin of name – Named for the cedar trees on the property
  

• Other names – ?

• Current status – Has been subdivided and is where the Town of Edgefield has been developed.
  

Timeline

• 1772 – Arthur Simkins came to South Carolina from Virginia. A few years later he built his plantation home among cedar trees hence the name Cedarfield.
  

  His wife, Margaret Matthews Dalby, also was from Virginia. It is not clear if they were married when Arthur moved to South Carolina.
  

• ? – The house was burned by Tories early in the Revolutionary War, but it was rebuilt after the war was over (2, bk. 1, vol. 11, p. 24).
  

• 1792 – Arthur Simkins deeded some of his property to the Judges of the Edgefield County Court.
  

  The deed states that for the "sum of one Shilling Current money," to the Judges of Edgefield County Court a "certain plantation or tract of land containing two acres whereon the Court House and goal now stand, bounded southwardly by Moses Harris, westwardly on John Simkins all the parts adjoining on the land of the said Arthur Simkins; also one and quarter of an acre adjoining on the south side of the said two acres whereon the Clerk of the said County hath lately built a House for his office...." (1).
  

• ? – Arthur Simkins began to sell off parcels of land along the edge of his plantation. This is where the Town of Edgefield started (2, bk. 1, vol. 2, p. 4).
  

  Simkins also owned Cane Break Plantation
  

• 1823 – Some land from the plantation was either sold or given to the local Baptist Church. The congregation proceeded to build a church on the land (2, bk. 1, vol. 2, p. 4).
  

• ? – According to one source the plantation house no longer exists. All that remains are the cedar trees (2, bk. 1, vol. 11, p. 24).
  

Land

• Number of acres – ?

• Primary crop – Cotton

Owners

• Chronological list – Arthur Simkins

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• ?

References & Resources

1. Brief History of Edgefield County

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