This week's blog post prompt for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2015 Edition by Amy Johnson Crow is Homestead.
In 1807, my maternal 4th Great Grandfather, William Smith (1775-1830) bought Spring Bank Plantation in Williamsburg County, South Carolina. The land passed to his son, my 3rd Great Grandfather, Henry John Smith (1807-1849) upon his death. The land stayed in family hands until after the civil war. It lay abandoned and in disrepair until it was bought and restructured by the Hadden family in 1930. A fire destroyed the home in 1947 and was rebuilt, it is said, using the original plans.
Springbank as it is today.
Part of the original log home built on the property. It has been expanded and is currently lived in.
An outbuilding still stands on the property. It is thought that it may have served as a kitchen at some point.
Several large oaks continue to grow around the property. Many most likely were there when my ancestors walked the land.
Behind the brick wall and several yards down a small path is a cemetery. This is the burial place for many of the enslaved people of Springbank Plantation. Efforts have been made to find and mark the graves. Names and dates are unknown.
Walking the property was a special experience knowing that I was where my people once lived, loved and died.
Many changes have been made to Springbank since my ancestors lived there. It is now a retreat for those looking for peace and rest away from the world.
Are we kin? Please contact me. Together we can find our people.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
What a beautiful place. Don't you wish walls could talk!
ReplyDeleteYes. The trees too! So many have been there long before the log cabin was built! Thanks, Michelle!
DeleteHow fun to have found a place your ancestors used to call home.
ReplyDeleteMy ancestors also had a plantation in SC until the Civil War. I found a 1820s map that marks the spot and a google map search shows a bridge and some kind of industrial site there today. They were in another county in 1870, and before 1875 they moved to Florida. Now that I found the plantation I want to find out what happened to it. Did they lose it because they couldn't pay the taxes or was it destroyed in the war? Sherman marched through the county...I wonder if he burned it.
Thanks so much for your comment. I hope you get to visit the site and get your questions answered. There's nothing like actually being where your ancestors once were.
DeleteSuch a lovely plantation. I wonder if that is a crinkle-crankle wall, which was common during the days that bricks were handmade.
ReplyDeleteKiki, never heard of that type of wall. Can you tell me more about it? Thanks for reading my post!
DeleteKiki, never heard of that type of wall. Can you tell me more about it? Thanks for reading my post!
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