Scotch Cross Plantation – Greenwood County

— Scotch Cross Plantation © Mike Kitchens —

Basic Information

• Location – Greenwood County

  At the intersection of Mathews Road and Barksdale Ferry Road
  

• Origin of name – The house received the name Scotch Cross because it was built near a settlement by the same name. It was also called the J. Wesley Brooks House for the home's builder and first owner (1, p. 6).
  

• Other names – J. Wesley Brooks House

• Current status – Believed to be privately owned and restored
  

Timeline

• 1815 – Earliest known date of existence
  

  J. Wesley Brooks built the house for his wife Anne Lipscomb (1).
  

• Circa 1834 – The plantation was part of Mary Elizabeth Watson's dowry when she married Zebulon Rudulph, Jr. (3).
  

• 1835 – Mary Rudulph died of complications from childbirth. Zebulon Rudulph, Jr. sold the plantation and he and his son moved to Alabama in 1839 (3 and 4).
  

• ? – Dr. Samuel Perryman became owner. His wife, Sarah Ann Watson Perryman, was J. Wesley Brooks' niece (2, p. 143).
  

• 1838 – Dr. Perryman died leaving Scotch Cross to his wife to support her and their children (2, p. 143).
  

• 1840 – The widow Perryman married Captain Henry Hunter Creswell. Creswell purchased the plantation from the Perryman heirs (2, p. 143).
  

• 1896 – Creswell remained at Scotch Cross until his death on March 23 (2, p. 143).
  

• 1973 – Mrs. Olin Turner was owner of record (1, p. 1).
  

Land

• Number of acres – Less than 10 in 1973 (1, p. 4)
  

• Primary crop – Probably cotton

Owners

• Chronological list – Captain John Wesley Brooks (1815-?); Zebulon Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Watson Rudolph (1834-?); Dr. Samuel Perryman (?-1838); Sarah Ann Watson Perryman (1838-1840); Captain Henry Hunter Creswell (1840-1896); Mrs. Olin Turner (1973)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• The house is built in the Federal style with Palladian features using hand-sawed construction from timber found on the property (1).
  

References & Resources

1. National Register of Historic Places
   – Nomination form - PDF - submitted in 1975
   – Photographs, architectural overview
   

2. John Bennett Boddie, Virginia Historical Genealogies (Memphis, TN: General Books LLC, 2009)
   
   

3. Information contributed by Robert Burns.

4. Rob Salzman, e-familytree.net posting