Marshfield Plantation – Trenton – Edgefield County

Basic Information

• Location – Youngblood Road, Trenton, Edgefield County

• Origin of name – Named for the Marsh family

• Other names – Old Marsh Home Place

• Current status – Privately owned

Timeline

• Earliest known date of existence – thought to be as early as 1794 when Benjamin Darby bought large landholdings in the area. This property was locally known as the "Darby Place" or "Darby Tract."
  

• It is believed Benjamin Darby either sold or gave this property to his daughter Sivil who was married to John Marsh.
  

• 1855 – Sivil and John's son Samuel Marsh inherited the property and farmed it until his death in 1878.
  

• 1878 – Deborah Ann Rinehart Marsh, Samuel's widow, became owner of Marshfield.
  

• 1903 – In accordance with Samuel Marsh's will, his son Samuel B. Marsh inherited the property upon the death of his mother Deborah Ann Rinehart Marsh. Samuel then deeded the property to his two sisters Mattie Q. and Daisy F. Marsh.
  

• 1907 – Mattie sold her half of the property to her sister Daisy.
  

• 1908 – Daisy sold the property to her husband Andrew C. Yonce.
  

• 1936 – Sarah Marsh Yonce inherited the property from her father Andrew C. Yonce in 1936.
  

• 1993 – Sarah Marsh Yonce deeded the property to Virginia Burton and John W. Kemp, Jr.
  

Land

• Number of acres – ?

• Primary crop – Traditionally cotton, corn, wheat, and grains, with asparagus in the 1930s, and then peaches until 1993.
  

• The Marsh family cemetery is located southwest of the house.
  

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Benjamin Darby (1794-?), Deborah Ann Rinehart Marsh (1878-1903), Mattie Q. Marsh and Daisy F. Marsh (1903-1907), Samuel Marsh (1855-1878), Samuel B. Marsh (1903), Sivil Darby and John Marsh (?-1855), Andrew C. Yonce (1908-1936), Daisy F. Marsh Yonce (1907), Sarah Marsh Yonce (1936-1993)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• House built – circa 1831, it was frame house consisting of two rooms with an unattached kitchen. Over the years, with various additions and changes, the house has evolved into a L-shaped, one-story antebellum home. (See National Register of Historic Places nomination form - PDF for expanded description.)
  

• Slave cabin built – early 1800s constructed using hand-hewn and pegged timber measures 27' x 18' and contains a stone fireplace. It is uncertain if this was the only slave cabin or one of many.
  

• Smokehouse built – early 1800s constructed using hand-hewn and pegged timber measures 16'5" x 13'.
  

Web Resources

• National Register of Historic Places
  – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1994
  – Photographs, architectural overview
  

Print Resources