Mount Pleasant Plantation – Charleston – Charleston County
Basic Information
- Location – Ashley River, Charleston Neck, Charleston, Charleston County
On the western end of Mount Pleasant Street, which was named for the plantation, with the house at the northern end of what is today Riverview Drive (1).
- Origin of name – ? (1)
- Other names – Geiger Farm (1)
- Current status – No longer exists; residential area (1)
Timeline
- ? – Earliest known date of existence
- ? – House built
Maps of the 1780 Siege of Charleston note buildings on the property of Mount Pleasant Plantation so it is assumed the plantation was founded sometime prior to this (1).
- ? – Robert Williams owned the plantation (1).
- 1785 – The property was advertised for sale and described as being 108.5 acres, 78 of which was high land and the remainder marsh. The ad noted this was the
northernmost part of the plantation of the late Robert
Williams, now owned of Mr. Arthur DeBardeleben. There was a house and "every necessary out building, the whole of which have lately undergone a complete repair" on the plantation at this time (1).
- 1786 – The plantation was referred to as Mount Pleasant in newspaper notices and is the first printed use of the plantation's name. Maurice Lahiffe and family were living at the plantation in February of 1786 but had moved by September. They seem to have been renters (1).
- 1787 – On March 16, the plantation was sold and consisted of 76
acres of high land and 106 acres of marsh (1).
- ? – William and Lucy Scarborough and Daniel OHara acquired the property (1).
- 1790 – John Lane purchased Mount Pleasant in June from William and Lucy Scarborough and Daniel OHara. John Lane would later declare bankruptcy in England (1).
- 1803 – John Geyer purchased the plantation for for 1,500 pounds sterling on March 21 from a bankruptcy trustee. Mount Pleasant Plantation contained 55 acres at this time (1).
- 1804 – John Geyer sold the property to Rebecca Screven (1).
- 1805 – Rebecca Screven did not own Mount Pleasant long as she sold it to Jacob Martin (1).
- 1810 – Jacob Martin increased the size of Mount Pleasant Plantation when he purchased the neighboring 10 acre farm from William Drayton. The Drayton property was described as "upon it are a dwelling house,
kitchen, wash house, and several other buildings" (1).
- 1842 – In response to a lawsuit, Samuel Wilson, as a trustee for the Martin family, sold the property to Alfred B. Stocker and Rebecca Stocker [the relationship of the Stockers are not known but they were not husband and wife] (1).
- 1843 – Rebecca Stocker made some modifications and operated the plantation as a private boarding house under the name Mount Pleasant Farm. Newspaper advertisements listed the cost to board as $7 a week or $1.50 per day (1).
- 1847 – Alfred Stocker passed away willing Mount Pleasant to his wife, Rachel, and children. Soon after the will was probated, the 85 acre property was advertised for sale (1).
- 1850 – Dr. David Geiger sued several people, including relatives of the
Stockers as Dr. Geiger had acquired a debt note owed by the Stockers. Dr. Geiger bought the Mount Pleasant Farm for $4500. The Geigers didn't live at Mount Pleasant but leased it out to tenant farmers (1).
- 1883 – Dr. Geiger sold five acres of the property to Edward Gibbes. Today, there is a condo development on this property located at the end of Sans Souci Street (1).
- 1887 – By this year, the Geigers had let the house fall into disrepair. On August 15, tenant farmer Thomas Croghan was robbed and murdered in the house (1).
- Circa 1892 – Elizabeth Geiger passed away and had been proceeded in death by her husband. Elizabeth's will named niece Emma Julia Blum Ficken as administratrix (1).
- 1892 – Emma Julia Blum Ficken sold Mount Pleasant at auction for $10,000 to Otto Tiedemann. Strangely, one week later Tidemann sold the property back to Emma Ficken for the same price (1).
- 1929 – After Emma Ficken's death, her widower Henry H. Ficken sold the property to Katherine F. Marron for $24,000 (1).
- 1936 – The Narva Corporation purchased Mount Pleasant from Katherine F. Marron and developed the tract into a residential community (1).
Land
- Number of acres – 108.5 in 1785; 182 in 1787; 55 in 1803; 65 in 1810; 85 in 1847; 60.44 in 1850; 55.44 in 1883 (1)
- Primary crop – ?
Slaves
- Number of slaves – ?
