Fair Forest Plantation – Union – Union County

Basic Information

• Location – Fairforest Creek (a branch of the Tyger River), Ninety Six District, southwest of the City of Union, Union County

  2403 Crosskeys Highway - State Road 49
  

• Origin of name – Named for the Fairforest Creek that runs through the area (4)
  

• Other names – Fletchall's; Nicholson Mansion; Forest Hills
  

• Current status – Operated as a bed and breakfast and special events venue
  

Timeline

• 1772 – Earliest known date of existence

  Colonel Thomas Fletchall received a 500 acre grant (5, Volumes I-XII, p. 222)
  

• ? – House built

  Colonel Thomas Fletchall, a gentleman farmer, built a house at Fair Forest. It would have been located on the south side of Fairforest Creek on 365 acres. On the north bank of the creek he owned 250 acres where he operated a saw mill and at least two grist mills (3, p. 26-27).
  

• 1775 – Colonel Fletchall was a Loyalist, and on December 9 he was arrested for breaking the Treaty of Ninety Six. The Patriots found him hiding in a large sycamore tree downstream from his mills (3, p. 29-30).
  

• 1776 – Colonel Fletchall was released from prison, and upon returning to his plantation he found it looted. His family along with their slaves proceeded to rebuild the place (3, p. 33).
  

• 1780 – On October 10 Colonel Fletchall fled to Charleston for the safety of himself and his family. He left with his wife, five children, and fourteen slaves. He never returned to his plantation (3, p. 38).
  

• 1782 – The Fletchall family and slaves left for Jamaica on December 1. Fletchall's property was confiscated and sold at auction the same year. Colonel Thomas Brandon, a local hero, purchased most of Fletchall's property. Colonel Fletchall petitioned the Crown for compensation of lost property. He claimed to have lost his house, 2,665 acres, 3 good slaves that were stolen as well as 45 head of black cattle, 40 head of sheep, 60 hogs, and 560 bushels of corn, wheat, and rye (3, p. 46).
  

• 1802 – Colonel Brandon died at Fair Forest Plantation (4).
  

• ? – Emslie Nicholson acquired the plantation (4).
  

• 1923 – Nicholson built a Tudor Revival mansion near the site of the plantation's original house (4).
  

• 2006 – Patrick and Lynn Mornanes purchased Fair Forest and spent four years restoring and furnishing the house (4).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 615 in 1775 and 1782; 14 in 2014 (3) (4)
  

• Primary crop – Corn, wheat, and rye
  

  There is a cedar tree drive lined with 200 year old trees (4)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – At least 14 in 1780 (3, p. 38)
  

Buildings

• There have been two houses built at Fair Forest Plantation. In 1923, Nicholson built a Tudor Revival mansion near the site of the plantation's original house using local fieldstone (4).
  

References & Resources

1. Biography of Colonel Thomas Fletchall
   

2. Biography of Colonel Thomas Brandon
   

3. Allan D. Charles, Narrative History of Union County South Carolina (Greenville, SC: A PRESS Printing Company, 1997)
    Order Narrative History of Union County South Carolina

4. History of Nicholson Mansion at Fairforest Creek: Click here
   

5. 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
   

Contact Information

• Nicholson Mansion at Fairforest Creek
  2403 Crosskeys Highway - State Road 49
  Union, SC 29379
  

  Telephone: 864-424-9042
  Website: Click here