Oryzantia Plantation – Georgetown – Georgetown County

Basic Information

• Location – Waccamaw River, Georgetown, All Saints Waccamaw Parish, Georgetown County
  

  Original plantation lands were located on the Waccamaw Neck off US 17.
  

• Origin of name – The name comes from the corruption of the term Orya sativa, which is Latin for rice plant.
  

• Other names – Annandale

• 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 (3, 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 (3, p. 3).
  

• 1767 – Robert Heriot bought 2,177 acres of Hobcaw Barony.
  

  Benjamin Huger bought another tract to the south of Heriot's consisting of 1,711 acres (3, p. 35).
  

• 1772 – Benjamin Huger sold his acreage to Robert Heriot (3, p. 35).
  

• 1792 – Robert Heriot died and his estate was divided into three tracts. The northern third became Rose Hill, the middle third went to Benjamin Huger, Jr., and the lower third was bought by Thomas Young who named his portion Youngville (3, p. 36).
  

• 1794 – Thomas Young divided his property into two tracts which became known as Oryzantia and Youngville. At the same time Young also purchaed Bellefield Plantation which bordered his property (3, p. 36).
  

• 1804 – Thomas Young died and his property was divided into smaller tracts.
  

• 1808 – Joseph Alston bought one of the smaller tracts. He named it Oryzantia.
  

  He and his wife, Theodosia Burr, made their home at the Oaks. Joseph Alston was left without a family when his son died and his wife was lost at sea (3, p. 43).
  

• 1813 – Joseph Alston advertised Oryzantia for sale.
  

• 1816 – John Ashe Alston, Joseph's younger brother, was in possession of the plantation. It is not clear if he bought the plantation from his brother or someone else. At this point the plantation was for sale again (3, p. 43).
  

• 1839 – John Izard Middleton, Jr. is noted as the owner at this point. He was the son-in-law of John Ashe Alston (3, p. 43).
  

• 1848 – It is not known when John Izard Middleton, Jr. sold the plantation. However, at this point in time Oryzantia is mentioned in the will of Joshua John Ward. He gave the plantation to his son Mayham Ward. He and his wife made their home at their other plantation, Alderly (3, p. 43).
  

• 1866 – Mayham Ward died and his estate ended up in court to be divided more equitably. His wife received Alderly with the dwelling house and 670 acres and Ann A. Ward received Oryzantia which was located to the south of Alderly (3, p. 44).
  

• 1905 – The Ward heirs sold their land to Edmund Kaminski who used the land for hunting (3, p. 44).
  

• 1906-1907 – Bernard M. Baruch was in possession of Oryzantia. (3, p. 44).
  

  Baruch was in the process of acquiring all the plantations that were created from the original Hobcaw 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 (3, 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 – 670 in 1866

• Primary crop – Rice

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• One slave cabin remains

References & Resources

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

2. History of Hobcaw Barony: Click here

3. 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

Contact Information

• Belle W. Baruch Foundation
  22 Hobcaw Road
  Georgetown, SC 29440
  

  Telephone: 843-546-4623
  Website: Click here