Cedar Tree Plantation – Ridgeway – Fairfield County

Basic Information

• Location – Fairfield County

  A few miles from the town of Ridgeway

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – ?

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• 1853 – Earliest known date of existence

• 1853 – House built (1, XII: 52)
  

  Edward G. Palmer of Valencia Plantation established Cedar Tree for his son Dr. John Davis Palmer. Palmer subdivided the southern portion of Valencia to make Cedar Tree. The house is one and a half story and had a grand garden (1, XII: 52).
  

• 1866 – Thomas Leonel Bulow acquired the plantation (2, p. 469).
  

• 1915 – Thomas Bulow passed away at Cedar Tree Plantation (2, p. 469).
  

• 1965 – Elizabeth Hawley Gasque Van Exem owned the plantation. Mrs. Van Exem was the first woman from South Carolina to be elected to Congress (1, XII: 52).
  

Land

• Colonel Dunbar, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, is buried in a cemetery near the house (3, p. 4).
  

• Number of acres – ?

• Primary crop – ?

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Thomas Leonel Bulow (1866-1915); DesPortes; Dr. John Davis Palmer (1853-?); Elizabeth Hawley Gasque Van Exem (1965)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• Many of the original outbuildings are still in use. The smokehouse, kitchen, washhouse, and the old farm bell that was used to call the plantation hands to work and meals are still a part of the place (3, p. 4).
  

References & Resources

1. 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
   

2. Information contributed by Cyndi Shull from:
   S.A. Cunningham, Confederate Veteran, Volume 23 (Self Published, 1915), p. 469
   

3. Information contributed by Cyndi Shull from:
   Fairfield Genealogical Society June 1999 Newsletter - PDF