Sans Souci Plantation – Charleston Neck – Charleston County

Basic Information

• Location – East bank of the Ashley River, Charleston Neck, Charleston County

  Foot of Sans Souci Street

• Origin of name – ?

• Other names – Sans Souci-on-the-Ashley

• Current status – No longer exists; area is now mostly housing (1)
  

Timeline

• ? – Earliest known date of existence
  

• ? – House built

• 1781 – On July 19, Robert Williams sold Sans Souci to Arthur DeBardeleben, a former Hessian officer (1).
  

• ? – DeBardeleben did not own the property long as it was sold to Maximillian von Westernhagen, another Hessian officer. It is believed that this sale to DeBardeleben by Williams may have been declared illegal by the state legislature since Williams had been a supporter of the British (1).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 300 in 1781 (1)
  

• Primary crop – ?

Owners

• Alphabetical list – Arthur DeBardeleben (1781-?); Faber; Fraser; Gaillard; Gibbs; Hazlehurst; Manigault; Pelzer; Rivers; Simons; Maximillian von Westernhagen; Robert Williams (?-1781)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• The plantation house no longer exists but the brick wall, which surrounded part of the property, still runs through neighborhoods in the area. One of the plantation's barns was converted into a house in the late 1800s and is still used as a private residence today (1).
  

References & Resources

1. Information contributed by John DeBardeleben

2. 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