White Hill Plantation – Orangeburg – Orangeburg County

Basic Information

• Location – Orangeburg, St. Matthews Parish, Orangeburg County

  Original plantation lands were located about six miles from the city of Orangeburg off US 601, right before the Calhoun County line.
  

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – Jenkins Hill

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• 1799 – Dr. Van De Vastine Jamison owned White Hill Plantation.
  

  Dr. Jamison was born on March 24, 1765 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was in South Carolina by 1792 and was counted in the 1790 Census. He was listed as the only person in his household - unmarried and owning no slaves (4, bk. 2, vol. 13, p. 53).
  

  On January 22, 1799 he married Elizabeth Rumph. They made White Hill their home (1).
  

• 1809 – Dr. Van De Vastine Jamison purchased 92 acres in the vicinity of White Hill. The area was referred to as Little Bool Swamp which is probably present-day Bull Swamp. It is assumed that he added this acreage to White Hill (1).
  

• 1810 – Dr. Van De Vastine Jamison did not like the fact that a public road ran directly through his property. He petitioned the legislature to alter the route (4, bk. 2, vol. 13, p. 52).
  

• 1814 – Elizabeth Rumph Jamison died (1).
  

• 1820 – A plat shows Dr. Van de Vastine Jamison as the owner of White Hill (3, p. 384).
  

• 1825 – Dr. Jamison was harvesting the oyster shells on his property. He burned down the shells to produce lime. Lime was used in the Carolinas for building materials and for indigo making.
  

  Robert Mills wrote of a peculiar sort of oyster shell found there which was longer than those found at the seashore. "In Dr. Jamison's plantation . . . ten hands can raise in a week as many of these oyster shells, from their bed, though seven feet below the surface as when burnt, will yield twelve hundred bushels of lime." In writing of the geology of Orangeburg District, he added: "Considerable bodies of the compact stone rock run through the district from northeast to southwest. Jamison is the only one that has attended to this rock so as to derive any advantage from quarrying and burning it. He has been for many years engaged in supplying the demands of the district for lime, both for building and for indigo making, for which it answers very well. The lime made is of an excellent quality. Dr. J. makes about 3000 bushels annually, and, could he find sale for it, could prepare ten times as much" (4, bk. 2, vol. 13, p. 53-54).
  

• 1833 – On February 22, Dr. Jamison released title to "White Hill plantation, all negro slaves, horses, cattle, hogs and farming utensils to John A. Tyler and Van De Vastine Samuel Jamison" (4, bk. 2, vol. 13, p. 53).
  

• 1836 – Dr. Jamison died on December 15 at Pine Grove Plantation in St. Matthews Parish. His body was brought to White Hill and buried in the family cemetery. He was 71 years old (1).
  

• 1844 – On January 20, John A. Tyler and Elizabeth Tyler sold White Hill to Dr. Willis Wilkinson, a Charleston, physician.
  

  The plantation consisted of 1,395 acres. The family cemetery was excluded in the sale of the property. That tract of land was reserved for the Jamison family (4, bk. 2, vol. 13, p. 53).
  

• 1849 – On September 21, Dr. Willis Wilkinson sold White Hill to Dr. James Jenkins. During his ownership the plantation was known as Jenkins' Hill (4, bk. 2, vol. 13, p. 53).
  

• ? – The plantation house was damaged by a storm before 1900 and was subsequently deserted (4, bk. 2, vol. 13, p. 53).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 1,395 in 1844

• Primary crop – ?

  The Jamison Family Cemetery is located on Belleville Road about five miles northeast of the city of Orangeburg (1).
  

Owners

• Chronological list – Dr. Van de Vastine Jamison (?-1833); John A. Tyler and Van de Vastine Samuel Jamison (1833-1844); Dr. Willis Wilkinson (1844-1849); Dr. James Jenkins (1849-?)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• ?

References & Resources

1. Orangeburgh SC Archives - scroll down for genealogy information on Dr. Van De Vastine Jamison and his descendants
   

2. Marion Salley, The Writings of Marion Salley, The Writings of Marion Salley (Orangeburg, SC: Orangeburg County Historical Society, 1970)
    Order The Writings of Marion Salley

3. Daniel Marchant Culler, Orangeburgh District, 1768-1868: History and Records (Spartanburg, SC: The Reprint Company, 1995)
    Order Orangeburgh District, 1768-1868: History and Records
   

4. 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