Samuel Jeffcoat Plantation – Lexington County

— Samuel Jeffcoat Plantation House, 2011 —
© The Jeffcoat Archives & Research Foundation

Basic Information

• Location – Headwaters of the Settlement at Big Pond Branch, Lexington County

• Origin of name – Named for an early owner

• Other names – Samuel Jeffcoat House, Jake Mack's Place
  

• Current status – Privately owned
  

— Interior of Samuel Jeffcoat Plantation, 2011 —
© The Jeffcoat Archives & Research Foundation

Timeline

• 1766 – Earliest known date of existence (1)
  

  John Peter Peysell received a land grant (1)
  

  Click here to view the grant document (1).
  

  Note: The grant notes the property as being in Colleton County. The Lords Proprietors created just four counties in South Carolina and present day Lexington County would have been in Colleton and Berkeley counties until 1769 when the state's colonial General Assembly created seven judicial districts. Learn more about the formation of South Carolina's counties here.
  

• 1768 – Jacob Jeffcoat acquired the property with the assistance of his benefactor, Lady Selina Shirley Hastings of the Methodist movement (1)
  

• 1769 – The parsonage-house was built where it stands today using lumber harvested from the plantation. The left-front room, when facing the house, was used for worship until 1772 (1)
  

• 1772 – Rev. Samuel Jeffcoat Sr, the son of Jacob, took ownership of the parsonage and built Jeffcoats' Meeting House, down the branch where Big Pond Branch meets the North Edisto (Pon Pon) River, to meet the needs of a growing Methodist backcountry community (1)
  

• 1830 – Benjamin Jeffcoat, Jr acquired the plantation from his grandfather Samuel Jeffcoat, Sr. (1).
  

• 1850 – Benjamin died and the plantation fell to his estate. His wife Mary Ann remained at the plantation (1).
  

• 1865 – The plantation was inherited by Benjamin and Mary Ann's son, Wesley Jeffcoat, when Mary Ann died this year (1).
  

• 1880 – Wesley Jeffcoat sold the plantation to Ransom E. Mack on November 24 (1).
  

• 1887 – J.J. "Jake" Mack purchased the property from Ransom E. Mack on October 5 (1).
  

• 1926 – Jones Lucas purchased the property from Jake Mack on October 16 (1 and 2).
  

  Click here to view the sales document (2).
  

• 1946 – Willie E. Jeffcoat purchased the property from Lucas and began to restore it. Willie was the great, great grandson of Samuel Jeffcoat, Sr. (1).
  

• 1977 – N.F. Jeffcoat acquired the plantation (1).
  

— N.F. Jeffcoat Farming the Plantation —
© The Jeffcoat Archives & Research Foundation

Land

• Number of acres by year: (1)
  – 1766 - 100+
  – 1800 - 10,000+
  – 1820 - 7,000
  – 1850 - 3,500
  – 1881 - 560
  – 1887 - 332
  – 1926 - 101
  – 1946 - 101.25
  – 1954 - 600
  – 1977 - 200
  – 2012 - 200
  

• Primary crop – Timber and cotton (1)
  

Owners

• Chronological list – John Peter Peysell (1766); Jacob Jeffcoat (1768-1772); Samuel Jeffcoat Sr (1772-1830); Benjamin Jeffcoat Jr (1830-1850); Estate of Benjamin Jeffcoat Jr (1850-1865); Wesley Jeffcoat (1865-1880); Ransom E Mack (1880-1887); J.J. "Jake" Mack (1887-1926); Jones Lucas (1926-1946); Willie E Jeffcoat (1946-1977); N.F. Jeffcoat (1977-present, 2023)
  

— Jones Capers Lucas & Delores Ellastine Wise Lucas, c. 1950 —
© Contributed by John Joseph Howell

Slaves

• Number of slaves – 3 in 1850 (4); 3 in 1860 (1)
  

Buildings

• Outbuildings include a smoke house and an early 19th century pole barn.
  

— Pole Barn at Samuel Jeffcoat Plantation, 2011 —
© Jeffcoat Archives & Research Foundation

References & Resources

1. Information contributed by Michael J. Jeffcoat, Official Historian of the Samuel Jeffcoat House & Plantation
   

2. Information contributed by John Joseph Howell
   

3. Vera Dell Spires Jeffcoat, Seed of Jacob Jeffcoat Family, History and Genealogy
    Order Seed of Jacob Jeffcoat Family, History and Genealogy
   

4. 1850 Slave Schedule of Lexington County

— Samuel Jeffcoat House, 2007 © Contributed by John Joseph Howell —

— Samuel Jeffcoat Plantation, 2011 © Jeffcoat Archives & Research Foundation —

— 1805 Needlework by Martha Jeffcoat —
© Jeffcoat Archives & Research Foundation