Marietta Plantation – Georgetown – Georgetown County
Basic Information
- Location – Waccamaw River, Georgetown, All Saints Parish, Georgetown County
Original plantation lands were located on the Waccamaw Neck, off US 17, and stretched from the Waccamaw River to the Atlantic Ocean.
- Origin of name – Named after one of the owner's mother, Mary
- Other names – Pleasant Fields
- Current status – Owned by the Belle W. Baruch Foundation as part of Hobcaw Barony which is open to the public for guided tours.
Timeline
- 1718 – John, Lord Carteret, one of the Lords Proprietors, claimed 12,000 acres and called it Hobcaw Barony (4, p. 3).
- 1730 – Lord Carteret sold the property to John Roberts for £500.
John Roberts sold the land to three men: Sir William Baker, Nicholas Linwood, and Brice Fisher. The three men appointed two agents to sell off the land. Hobcaw Barony would eventually be divided into many plantations (4, p. 3).
- 1767 – Peter Secare purchased 1,066 acres of Hobcaw Barony for £2,800 (4, p. 29).
- 1769 – Peter Secare died and his property was divided up amongst his relatives. It is not known who received the 1,066 acres.
- 1789 – At this time the plantation was owned by Elizabeth Calhoun who was probably related somehow to Peter Secare (4, p. 29).
A plat dated 1789 shows that a Dr. Thomas Humphries owned Pleasant Fields (the name of the plantation before it was changed to Marietta). Not much is known about this, however, it is assumed that he probably married Elizabeth Calhoun (4, p. 30).
- 1825 – Thomas Pinckney Alston was listed as the owner at this time. His father, Colonel William Alston, probably purchased the plantation in the early 1800s with the intention of giving it to one of his sons when they came of age (4, p. 30).
Thomas Pinckney Alston is probably the owner who named the plantation Marietta after his mother, Mary Motte Alston.
- 1841 – Thomas Pinckney Alston sold Marietta to Arthur P. Hayne, a brother-in-law.
- 1847 – Arthur P. Hayne sold Marietta to William Algernon Alston.
- 1850s – Marietta went to William Algernon Alston's grandson and namesake, William Algernon Alston.
During the Civil War Marietta was confiscated under the Abandoned Lands Act. William Algernon Alston (grandson) had to petition the government to get his land back (4, p. 26).
- 1866 – Marietta was returned to William Algernon Alston, however, he died within the year and the property went to his cousin Thomas Pinckney Alston, Jr. Since the will was made before the Civil War it included the division of slaves. The situation ended up in court in order to divide William Algernon Alston's property equitably
(4, p. 26).
- 1874 – Hardy Solomon bought Marietta at a public sale. Included in the sale were Friendfield, Strawberry Hill, Calais, and Michau Plantations, all once the property of William Algernon Alston (4, p. 26).
- 1875 – Eliza Donaldson purchased the above plantations from Hardy Solomon, and called the whole thing Friendfield. The Donaldson family continued to plant rice on the plantations.
- 1905 – All of the plantations comprising Friendfield Plantation were sold to Bernard M. Baruch. Upon hearing the history of the original Hobcaw Barony, Baruch began acquiring the plantations that had been created from the Barony. He called all of his property Hobcaw Barony using the original name.
- 1935-1943 – Bernard M. Baruch conveyed most of Hobcaw Barony to his daughter, Belle Wilcox Baruch (1, p. 42).
- 1956 – Belle Baruch created the Bernard M. Baruch Foundation to manage the barony as an educational center focusing on forestry and marine science (4, p. 54).
- 1964 – Belle Baruch died and her father decided to change the name of the foundation to the Belle W. Baruch Foundation. The foundation still exists today and continues to provide educational opportunities in wildlife conservation and research (1, p. 42).
Land
- Number of acres – 1,066 in 1767
- Primary crop – Rice
Slaves
- Number of slaves – ?
References & Resources
- National Register of Historic Places
– Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1994
– Photographs, architectural overview
- History of Hobcaw Barony: Click here
- Alberta Morel Lachicotte, Georgetown Rice Plantations
(Georgetown, SC: Georgetown County Historical Society, 1993)
Order Georgetown Rice Plantations - Suzanne Cameron Linder and Marta Leslie Thacker, Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of Georgetown County and the Santee River
(Columbia, SC: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 2001)
Order Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of Georgetown County and the Santee River - George C. Rogers, Jr., The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina
(Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Company, 1990)
Order The History of Georgetown County, South Carolina
Contact Information
- Belle W. Baruch Foundation
22 Hobcaw Road
Georgetown, SC 29440
Telephone: 843-546-4623
Website: Click here
