Singleton Plantation – St. Matthews – Calhoun County

Basic Information

• Location – St. Matthews, Calhoun County

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – ?

• Current status – Privately owned

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence

• ? – House built

• Circa 1880 – Othniel Hydrick Wienges purchased the plantation from Angelica Singleton.
  

  Angelica Singleton married President Martin Van Buren's oldest son Abraham in 1838. President Van Buren had been a widow since 1819 and asked his daughter-in-law to be his White House Hostess (4).
  

• The Wienges family added to the plantation's acerage growing it to about 4,000 acres at one point (1).
  

• ? – Othniel Henry Wienges Sr. inherited the plantation from his father, Othniel Hydrick Wienges.
  

• ? – Othniel Henry Wienges Jr. became owner.
  

• 1965 – Tony award winning actress Viola Davis was born on August 11th at Singleton Plantation. Her family moved to Rhode Island when Viola was an infant (2).
  

• 1991 – The red barn built by Othniel Hydrick Wienges in the early 1900s was used in the movie Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken (2).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 60 circa 1880; 2,600 in 2003; approximately 1,000 in 2012
  

  Today, much of the land is leased out (2).
  

• Primary crop – Cotton historically; horse breeding in modern times
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• The former foreman's house is currently used as a guest house (1).
  

References & Resources

1. Margaret N. O'Shea, Othniel Wienges, A Natural Judge of Horses - PDF, (Sandlapper: Summer 2003)
   

2. Otis R. Taylor Jr., Best Actress Nominee Viola Davis has Roots in St. Matthews, (The State Newspaper: February 26, 2012)
   

3. 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
   

4. Information contributed by Brett McLaughlin – learn more about Angelica Singleton Van Buren here