Fair View Plantation – Fairfield County

Basic Information

• Location – near Jenkinsville, Fairfield County

  West side of SC 215, approximately 3 miles south of Jenkinsville
  

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – Dr. John Glenn House (6)

• Current status – Private residence. Restoration of the house was completed in 2012 (6).

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence

  Probably part of a 1773 land grant to William Thompson by King George III. Thompson also developed nearby High Point Plantation.
  

• Circa 1800 – House built by William Thompson (3) (5, p. 244).

• 1830 – Dr. John Milton Glenn purchased the plantation from the Thompson family (1) (3).
  

• ? – Dr. Glenn's only child, Louise, became owner of Fair View (5, p. 244).
  

• Circa 1840 – Louise deeded Fair View to her second husband, Furman McEachern, after their marriage (4) (5, p. 244).
  

• Circa 1840-1850 – Louise passed away and Furman McEachern married for a second time (4) (5, p. 244).
  

• Circa 1902 – Furman McEachern's second wife passed away and he married Mary Chappell. McEachern gave Mary the plantation as a wedding gift (5, p. 244).
  

• Circa 1914 – Mary Chappell McEachern never lived at the plantation after the death of her husband, Furman. She instead rented the house for several years. During this time, the plantation's grounds deteriorated and Mary sold off most of the plantation's property (4) (5, p. 244).
  

• 1930s – Reverend L.K. Martin purchased the Fair View Plantation house from Mary Chappell McEachern (5, p. 244).
  

• ? – Colonel Martin inherited the plantation. He was the son of Reverend and Mrs L.K. Martin (6).
  

• 1980s – The McEachern family examined the property to consider purchasing it. They found the house to be in terrible condition and only a small amount of the acreage left (4).
  

• 1988 – Fair View was purchased by Dr and Mrs William C James, Jr in November from the Colonel Martin. The house was in a very severe state of deterioration. (6).
  

• 2007 – The James began to renovate the house, a project that wasn't completed until 2012 (6).
  

• 2017 – Dr and Mrs William C James, Jr were still owners of the plantation which was referred to as Fair View (6).
  

Land

• Number of acres – Approximately 4,000 in the early 1800s; approximately 2,000 during the Louise Glenn / Furman McEachern ownerships; 184 in 2017 (4) (6).
  

• Primary crop – Cotton and some tobacco (4)
  

  Jenifer Barnes shares, "The plantation was known for its elaborate gardens and many slaves."
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – Thought to be about 30 (4)
  

References & Resources

1. Historic sites of Fairfield County: Click here - Fair View Plantation numbered 86

2. Map of Western Fairfield County: Click here - Fair View Plantation numbered 86
   

3. Information contributed by Jenifer Barnes
   

4. Information contributed by John D. McEachern, including some information from:
   – 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
   

5. Information contributed by John D. McEachern from:
   – Julian Stevenson Bolick, A Fairfield Sketchbook (Jacobs Brothers, 1963)
   
   

6. Information contributed by owner William C. James, Jr., DDS