Special thanks to Rutledge Moore for his contributions to this page. Rutledge and his wife Frida have owned Davant since 1991.

Overview

• Location – Near Gillisonville, St. Luke's Parish, Jasper County

  US 278 at SC 462

• Origin of name – Owner Richard James Davant

• Other names – The Oaks

• Current status – Owned by Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Rutledge Moore, who reside on the plantation year-round and operate it as a hunting preserve (2006)
  

Timeline

• 1770 – Earliest known date of existence

  John Hobard received a grant for 100 acres for services rendered to King George III.
  

• 1811 – Sold to Stephen McDonald
  

• 1813 – Sold to Williams Watters
  

• 1815 – Sold to John Cheney, who christened the property The Oaks
  

• 1828 – Cheney's daughter Evelina married lawyer Richard James Davant. Upon his father-in-law's death, Davant purchased the estate and changed its name to Davant Plantation.
  

• 1865 – Original Greek Revival home burned by Sherman's troops
  

  Davant dismantled a much simpler house located on a nearby plantation, which he also owned, and transferred it piece-by-piece to the site of his former home.
  

• 1939 – Sold to Edwin M. Berolzheimer
  

  House renovated by Berolzheimer
  

• ? – Mary Berol became owner
  

• 1981 – Thomas L. Harper purchased 2400 acres from the Berol estate.
  

• 1985 – Harper added an additional 25 acres to the plantation.
  

• 1991 – Harper sold to Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Rutledge Moore
  

• 1995 – Primary filming location for the movie Something to Talk About
  

Land

• Number of acres – 100 in 1770; 2,400 in 1981; 2,425 in 1985; 2,100 in 2006

• Primary crop – ?

• The Davant family burial ground is located on the property. One stone slab bears a verse and the inscription "Sarah Isabella, Eldest Child of Richard J. and Evelina J. Davant." Another slab bears a verse and the inscription "To the Memory of Mrs. Martha E. Craft, Eldest Daughter of John and Sarah R. Cheney." The dates of the two deaths are 1828 and 1829.
  

Owners

• Chronological list – John Hobard (1770-1811), Stephen McDonald (1811-1813), William Watters (1813-1815), John Cheney (1815-1828), Richard James Davant (1828-?), Edwin M. Berolzheimer (1939-?), Mary Berol (?-1981), Thomas L. Harper (1981-1991), Mr. and Mrs. B. H. Rutledge Moore (1991-present)
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

Buildings

• Barns, kitchen smokehouse, stables, laundry house, three hunting cottages
  

Web Resources

• ?

Print Resources

• 30-15 Plantation File, South Carolina Historical Society
  –  Online Catalog

• 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
  

• N. Jane Iseley and William P. Baldwin, Lowcountry Plantations Today (Greensboro, NC: Legacy Publications 2001)
  
  

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