Pine Barren Plantation – Edisto Island – Charleston County

Basic Information

• Location – Store Creek, Edisto Island, St. John's Colleton Parish, Charleston County

• Origin of name – Named for the longleaf pine "flatwoods" that had been on Edisto Island (1, p. 135)
  

• Other names – ?

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• 1703 – Earliest known date of existence (1, p. 135)
  

  Lawrence Dennis received a grant for 234 acres (1, p. 135).
  

• ? – House built

• 1730 – Lawrence Dennis sold the property to Edward Rippon (1, p. 135).
  

• ? – Joseph Seabrook Jr. became owner of Edward Rippon's property (2, p. 172).
  

• 1790 – Joseph Seabrook Jr. died and son Issac Seabrook became owner of the plantation (2, p. 172).
  

• 1798 – Issac Seabrook died leaving Pine Barren to his brother-in-law, Thomas Whaley III, who was the widower of his sister Mary Ann Seabrook Whaley (2, p. 172).
  

• 1805 – Thomas Whaley III passed away. Joseph Whaley was just 17 when he inherited Pine Barren Plantation from his father (1, p. 135) (2, p. 172).
  

• 1862 – The United States Government confiscated many South Carolina plantations during the Civil War including Pine Barren (3, p. 73).
  

• 1865 – Colonel Joseph Whaley petitioned the court for the return of Pine Barren Plantation which was 600 acres at the time. In May 1866, the court issued a certificate of ownership to Whaley (3, p. 73).
  

• 1872 – Joseph Whaley passed away. Most of the property was sold by the Whaley heirs but the house did remain in the family (2, p. 172) (3, p. 140).
  

• 1930s – The Whaley house was lost in a suspicious fire. A farmhouse was rebuilt at the site and retained the Pine Barren name (3, p. 140).
  

• Late 1990s – Beth Grimball Mayer, a descendant of Colonel Joseph Whaley, acquired the house, restored and modernized it (3, p. 140).
  

Land

• Number of acres – 234 in 1703; 2,600 in early 1800s; 600 in 1865 (1, p. 135) (3, p. 73)
  

• Primary crop – Sea Island Cotton
  

Slaves

• Number of slaves – ?

References & Resources

1. Information contributed by Sandra Coyle from:
   Charles Spencer, Edisto Island, 1663 to 1860 (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2008)
   
   

2. Richard Porcher and Sarah Fick, The Story of Sea Island Cotton (Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2005)
   
   

3. Charles Spencer, Edisto Island, 1861 to 2006: Ruin, Recovery and Rebirth (Definitive History) (Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2008)