Plane Hill Plantation – Boykin – Kershaw County

Basic Information

• Location – 691 Cantey Lane, Boykin, Kershaw County

• Origin of name – Stephen Decatur Miller gave the site the name Plane Hill
  

• Other names – The Terraces

• Current status – Private residence

Timeline

• 1817 – Earliest known date of existence - the house was constructed by Starke Hunter on land conveyed to him by Burnwell Boykin.
  

• 1828 – Mary Boykin and Stephen Decatur Miller made Plane Hill their home. Their daughter Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut would grow-up here and later become known for composing a diary of southern life.
  

• ? – Sarah Jones DeSaussure and Alexander Hamilton Boykin along with their nine children took up residency. During the Boykin ownership, the famous terraced gardens were constructed which lead to the plantation being called The Terraces from then on.
  

• ? – Charlotte Thompson became owner. After a horrific 1923 fire at nearby Cleveland School, Charlotte donated her house to the county for a school. The school was named Charlotte Thompson School in her honor (2).
  

• ? – The Terraces once again became a residential home when purchased by Dr. Herbert and Gladys G. Schreiber. The Schreiber's owned The Terraces until Mrs. Schreiber became ill and sold the property (5).
  

• 1996 or 1997 – Deborah A. and Thomas O. Brewer purchased The Terraces from Mrs. Schreiber (4).
  

• 2000 – The Brewers completely restored the house. They also cleaned out the five terraced gardens and restored the the staircases leading down to the gardens. The Brewers had a botanist from Clemson University to mark all of the plant species prior to clean up and now host the Camden Garden Club tours annually (4).
  

Land

• Number of acres – ?

• Primary crop – Cotton (3)

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Alexander Hamilton and Sarah Jones DeSaussure Boykin (?), Burnwell Boykin (?-1817), Thomas O. and Deborah A. Brewer (1996/1997-present), Starke Hunter (1817-1828), Kershaw County (1923-?), Stephen Decatur and Mary Boykin Miller (1828-?), Charlotte Thompson (?-1923), Dr. Herbert and Gladys G. Schreiber (?-1996/1997)

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• In the early 2000s, the Brewers restored the slave cabin and also located the foundation of an additional cabin (4).
  

References & Resources

1. Historic Resources Survey of Kershaw County - PDF - see document pages 25, 118, 166
   

2. South Carolina Postcards By Davie Beard - scroll down to second picture
   

3. Boykin Family Papers, 1748-1932, 2001
   

4. Information contributed by Norman Swenson.
   

5. Information contributed by Heather Kitchen.