University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Theses and Dissertations 8-9-2014 Hard Rows to Hoe: Free Black Farmers in Antebellum South Carolina David W. Dangerfield University of South Carolina - Columbia Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Dangerfield, D. W.(2014). Hard Rows to Hoe: Free Black Farmers in Antebellum South Carolina. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2772 This Open Access Dissertation is brought to you by Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HARD ROWS TO HOE: FREE BLACK FARMERS IN ANTEBELLUM SOUTH CAROLINA by David W. Dangerfield Bachelor of Arts Erskine College, 2005 Master of Arts College of Charleston, 2009 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History College of Arts and Sciences University of South Carolina 2014 Accepted by: Mark M. Smith, Major Professor Lacy K. Ford, Committee Member Daniel C. Littlefield, Committee Member David T. Gleeson, Committee Member Lacy K. Ford, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies © Copyright by David W. Dangerfield, 2014 All Rights Reserved. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation and my graduate education have been both a labor and a vigil – and neither was undertaken alone. I am grateful to so many who have worked and kept watch beside me and would like to offer a few words of my sincerest appreciation to the teachers, colleagues, friends, and family who have helped me along the way. Before recognizing those who joined and sustained me in this task, I would like to first acknowledge the funding received from the University of South Carolina’s Department of Research, the History Department, and the Institute for Southern Studies. I was given grants for research and conference presentations from the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University, the South Carolina Chapter of the Colonial Dames, and from the St. George Tucker Society. Each of these resources was vital to the archival research and ideas behind this work. I am also especially grateful for research assistance offered by several institutions: Nic Butler and the staff at the Charleston Library, Mary Jo Fairchild and the South Carolina Historical Society, Eric Emerson and the staff, particularly Steve Tuttle and Wade Dorsey, at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, and Allen Stokes, Henry Fulmer, and the staff at the South Caroliniana Library – particularly Lorrey Stewart, Harold Newfield, and Graham Duncan. As an institution, the University of South Carolina has given me so much. I cannot fully say how much Mark M. Smith has meant as a teacher and advisor. His scholarly wisdom offered much to improve my research and writing and, more than this, he was constant source of encouragement and stalwart advocacy. In short, I could not iii have asked for a better mentor. I am also grateful to Lacy K. Ford for insights into rural, antebellum South Carolina and to Dan Littlefield for his sage advice for taking this work forward. Matt Childs, Dean Kinzley, Don Doyle, Marjorie Spruill, Kathryn Edwards, David Snyder, and Ann Johnson, among others, are all owed a debt thanks for their many contributions to my scholarly development. Fellow graduate students have all touched the project by way of reading my work, offering research advice, and simply for being supportive friends. Caroline Peyton and Tyler Parry have been through it with me, thick and thin, from day one. Michael Woods, an already accomplished and brilliant scholar, never hesitated to give me sound and sage advice as I entered the program at USC. Likewise, Allen Driggers, Laura Foxworth, Evan Kutzler, Timothy Minella, Jay Richardson, Beth Sherhouse, and several others have meant so much to me. They are all doing exciting work of their own. I am privileged to have worked beside them and call them my friends. At the College of Charleston, where this project began, I was fortunate in my first semester of coursework to land in David Gleeson’s Old South class and later his “Plain Folk” research seminar. His courses were a trial by fire in the best possible form. They helped me mold ideas and left me well-prepared for doctoral training. His influence and mentorship continue to be invaluable to my work and career. Bernard Powers was particularly helpful with this project in its infancy, drawing on his expertise on Charleston’s urban free black population to help me sharpen my focus. Other faculty during this time also left an important mark on my development -- Joelle Neulander, Irina Gigova, and Kyle Sinisi. My graduate student colleagues at the College of Charleston were yet another rich source of inspiration. Otis W. Pickett was finishing his thesis when iv I entered the program. Though Otis is Clemson man, he is still salt of the earth – a trusted friend and Christian brother. At “the College,” I also met Kate Jenkins, Ivy Farr McIntyre, and Miles Smith – wonderful colleagues and collaborators that I am lucky to know. At Erskine College, James W. Gettys inspired me to pursue a career as a professional historian and teacher. Encapsulating my respect and admiration, personally and professionally, would fill a volume. It must suffice to say that Jim Gettys represents one of the finest examples of a gentleman scholar that I have ever known. Other members of the Erskine community that I wish to thank for their guidance and friendship: Sandra Chaney, David Grier, Bill Crenshaw, Lowry Ware, Randy Moore, Mark Peeler, Buddy Ferguson, Steve Southwell, and David Danehower. Scholars from other institutions contributed advice and help with this project for which I am humbled. James L. Roark offered much appreciated guidance after reading the seminar paper that became this dissertation. Emily West’s insights into rural free black life and their status in South Carolina were particularly helpful. And, I am also grateful to the St. George Tucker Society and the Cleanth Brooks Dissertation Forum for their comments and probing analytical questions. Outside of the academy, numerous people provided support, wisdom, guidance, meals, shelter, and charity that have helped this project along. Rev. Timothy Shaw and my church family at Asbury-St. James United Methodist prayed diligently for me as I applied to and entered graduate school and they were a constant source of strength throughout. I am blessed to know them and wish especially to thank Earline Snow and her fellow “lemonade conspirators” for their support. Frank and Raejean Beattie have v been dear friends, adopted family really, and sponsors who helped inspire me. I am eternally grateful to Dr. James Aymond for giving me a new lease on life when he repaired my lumbar spine. I am also appreciative of friends, Joe and Renee Culler, Jim Quinn, Stewart and Emma Driggers, Josh and Cowles Whitley, Andrew and Beth Dennis, Shawan Gillians, Lindsay Grosso, Melody Lane, Pete and Sharon Bailey and several others who have all contributed to this project’s completion in various ways. My Saturday’s in the fall would not have been the same without Mike and Kelly Bryant whose friendship has meant the world to me. And, while thinking of Mike, particularly, I am compelled to thank the Gamecocks for the fun and diversion they provided throughout my career at USC. Two National Championships for baseball, a conference championship from women’s basketball, three record-setting eleven win seasons for football, and beating “that team up the road” for five consecutive years has been fun to watch and be some part of as a student! The people I am perhaps most indebted to for this dissertation are my family. My cousins and many aunts and uncles, Donna and Albert Heath, James, Shiela, Franklin, and Susan Yates, and Kathy and Virginia Dangerfield were all prayerful encouragers. As brothers often are, mine are due special thanks. Mark and Philip, never neglected a chance to call and check on me; often to see if I had found the time to watch the game. Most times I had, thanks to them. My grandparents, J.W. and Katie Yates, encouraged me to pursue this degree. Though they never fully understood what kind of work I was doing, they supported me firmly. Both were children of the Great Depression – my grandfather an Arkansas sharecropper’s son – and they knew the importance of an education better than most. More than that, they imparted a love for the past, for vi understanding where I came from, and from that understanding, knowing a bit about who I am. South Carolina writer Ben Robertson said that our grandparents are a “voice to us, a cry.” This was assuredly true for my own grandparents. I lost my grandfather the semester before completing this project, but the stories that he passed down and that voice remain with me. A “historian” in his own right and an unequaled raconteur, his enthusiasm for stories (most that began with “when I was a boy”) informs my work and teaching. A part of this dissertation is dedicated to him and to my grandmother. In the midst of writing this dissertation, Lauren Bailey agreed to be my wife, surprisingly enough even after helping me double-check thousands upon thousands of statistical data points. She has been a steadfast source of strength and encouragement through seasons of adversity and success. I am truly thankful for her. Finally, I was fortunate to have a mother and father who taught me not only the value of an education, but also made sure that I had one. And they were even more concerned that my life and education be rooted in faith, character, and a loving family.