Ravenel Plantation – Minim Island – Georgetown County

— Ravenel Plantation © Brandon Coffey, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Basic Information

• Location – Minim Island, North Santee River, Georgetown County

• Origin of name – Named for city in France, LaRochelle

• Other names – Rochelle (1, p. 623)
  

• Current status – ?

Timeline

• Prior to 1732 – Earliest known date of existence

  Thomas Lynch received large land grants that stretched westward from the intracoastal way. Lynch called his property The Marsh Plantation (1, p. 623).
  

• ? – House built

• 1738 – Thomas Lynch passed away leaving most of his estate to wife Sabina Vanderhorst Lynch (1, p. 623).
  

• 1749 – Sabina died and son Thomas Lynch II took over the Lynch holdings (1, p. 623).
  

• 1776 – Thomas Lynch III inherited the property when his father died (1, p. 623).
  

• 1779 – Thomas Lynch III and his wife where lost at sea leaving no direct heirs. The land was divided between Thomas's three sisters. Esther Lynch inherited the land that was call The Marsh. She continued to operate the working plantation (1, p. 624).
  

• ? – Esther's will divided the plantation into four pieces with her nephew Dr. John Bowman Lynch inheriting the piece that would become called Ravenel (1, p. 624).
  

• 1830 – Dr. Lynch sold the property to James Reid Pringle (1, p. 624).
  

• 1840 – James Reid Pringle died leaving his estate to wife Elizabeth Mary McPherson Pringle (1, p. 625).
  

• ? – After Elizabeth's death, the estate was divided and distributed among their four children. Sisters Eliza Pringle and Rosamund Miles Pringle inherited western section of land that would become Ravenel (1, p. 625).
  

• 1836 – Eliza Pringle married William Ravenel and they remained joint owners with Rosamund Miles Pringle (1, p. 625).
  

• Circa 1863 – The Ravenels and Rosamund sold the plantation to George Alfred Trenholm. Trenholm also purchased nearby Pine Grove Plantation (1, p. 626).
  

• Prior 1876 – Trenholm transferred ownership of both plantations to son Alfred Glover Trenholm (1, p. 626).
  

• ? – Alfred Trenholm died without having a will, leaving a wife and three children. Alfred's sister came to have a mortgage on Ravenel Plantation and gained approval from the heirs to sell the plantation (1, p. 626).
  

• 1899 – Arthur M. Manigault Jr. purchased the plantation for $10,000 from the Trenholm estate, constructed a house, and changed the plantation's name to Rochelle (1, p. 626).
  

• 1919 – L.K Estridge represented a hunt club that purchased Rochelle (1, p. 626).
  

• ? – Estridge sold the property to John Miller (1, p. 626).
  

• ? – Robert Smith Manigault acquired Rochelle Plantation to bring it back into the family (1, p. 626).
  

• 2001 – Peter Manigault was owner and also owned Pine Grove Plantation at the time (1, p. 626).
  

— Ravenel Plantation © Brandon Coffey, 2015 —
(Do Not Use Without Written Consent)

Land

• Number of acres – 957 in 1793 (1, p. 624)
  

• Primary crop – Rice (1, p. 623)

Slaves

• Number of slaves – 150 under Esther Lynch (1, p. 624)
  

References & Resources

1. Suzanne Cameron Linder and Marta Leslie Thacker, Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of Georgetown County and the Santee River (Columbia, SC: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, 2001)
    Order Historical Atlas of the Rice Plantations of Georgetown County and the Santee River

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