University of South Carolina Scholar Commons Archaeology and Anthropology, South Carolina Research Manuscript Series Institute of 9-1979 Hampton, Initial Archeological Investigations at an Eighteenth Century Rice Plantation in the Santee Delta, South Carolina Kenneth E. Lewis Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/archanth_books Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Lewis, Kenneth E., "Hampton, Initial Archeological Investigations at an Eighteenth Century Rice Plantation in the Santee Delta, South Carolina" (1979). Research Manuscript Series. 151. https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/archanth_books/151 This Book is brought to you by the Archaeology and Anthropology, South Carolina Institute of at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Research Manuscript Series by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Hampton, Initial Archeological Investigations at an Eighteenth Century Rice Plantation in the Santee Delta, South Carolina Keywords Excavations, Santee River, Hampton Plantation State Park, Charleston County, South Carolina, Archeology Disciplines Anthropology Publisher The outhS Carolina Institute of Archeology and Anthropology--University of South Carolina Comments In USC online Library catalog at: http://www.sc.edu/library/ This book is available at Scholar Commons: https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/archanth_books/151 HAMPTON~ INITIAL ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGA'1'IONS AT AN EIGHTEENTH CENTURY RICE PLANTATION IN THE SANTEE DELTA~ SOUTH CAROLINA by Kenneth E. Lewis Research Manuscript Series No. 151 ~ II ''', ln~- [])I[] £RP This project was sponsored by the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism and funded through the Historic Preservation Program of the South Carolina Department of Archives and History with the assistance of a matching grant from the United States Depart­ ment of the Interior under provision of the Historic Pn:servation Act of 1966. Prepared by the INSTITUTE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA September, 1979 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. ....•................ .. iv LIST OF FIGURES . vi LIST OF TABLES•. viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. •..............•.. ... ix INTRODUCTION. ..•.. 1 PHYSIOGRAPHIC SETTING . THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. 6 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF HAMPTON PLANTATION. 9 Introduction ................ 9 The Background of British CoZonization .... 9 Hampton PZantation in the CoZoniaZ and AnteheZZum periods. ..........•......... 11 The Post-heZZum Period: DecZine and Transition. 17 A MODEL OF PLANTATION SETTLEMENT. 23 THE ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS. 29 Introduction ........ 29 MethodoZogicaZ Framework. 29 The Condition of the site. 32 Hampton PZantation in Time and Space 34 Introduction. ... ....... 34 The TemporaZ position of the SetUement . 35 The Location of the SettZement. .... 39 The CuUuraZ AffiUation of the SettZement. 44 Swronary .... .. 47 Form and Function within the Hampton PZantation SetUement ............... 48 Introduction. ........... 48 Examining the ArcheoZogicaZ Record. 49 S'UJl1J7lary .••••....••.. 64 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . 65 APPENDIX A DERIVATION OF MEAN CERAMIC PATE. 70 APPENDIX B ARTIFACT CATALOG ......... 72 APPENDIX C PREHISTORIC COMPONENTS FROM HAMPTON PLANTATION .......... ..... 79 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS (CONTINUED) Page REFERENCES. ••••••••••••••• 90 APPENDIX D IN SEARCH OF GABLE AND LEIGH: A FORAY INTO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY HISTORICAL RECORD. 105 REFERENCES. •••••••••••••••• 107 APPENDIX E PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF COLONO-WARE CERAMICS FROM HAMPTON PLANTATION. •••• 108 REFERENCES. •••••••••••••••••••••• 12:3 iii .ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank the following individuals and organ­ izations for their support of the archeological investigations at Hampton Plantation State Park. The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recrea­ tion, and Tourism sponsored this project to aid in its development of the park as a historical area. Michael Foley, Chief Historian, coordinated our work with the sponsoring agency and provided access to historical and architectural research conducted by his staff. Marion Edmonds, in particular, was most generous in sharing information compiled as a result of his research on Hampton. Greg Baitaille, who surveyed the park property, assisted us by laying out base lines for our site grid. Bud Klein, then superintendent of Hampton Plantation State Park, aided in storing and transporting our equipment and in back-filling our excava­ tions. His assistant, Will Alston, is a descendent of many generations of Hampton residents. His knowledge of the background and layout of the plantation as well as its recent history permitted us to gain a much clearer picture of Hampton as a living settlement. Will also shared with us photographs and other memorabilia acquired during his long association with the plantation and its most recent residents. In the field, James Scurry served as research assistant for the Hampton project. Our crew consisted of Helen Haskell, Marie Hollings, Bill Phillips, Carolyn Lewis, Cindy Lewis, Charles Paysinger, and Elizabeth Paysinger, who worked without complaint despite the insects and often inclement weather to complete the field work at Hampton. In addition to his work on the field crew, Bill Phillips also reproduced several of Will Alston's photographs for our use in this report. Following the completion of the fieldwork, Jim Scurry and Helen Haskell performed the basic analysis of the archeological materials and the computerization of data for the SYMAP displays. Numerous persons and agencies assisted in the documentary research conducted for the Hampton project. They include the staffs of the South Carolina Archives in Columbia and the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina; Robert N. King of the Charleston County Register of Mesne Conveyance, the staff of the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions, Chalmers Davidson of Davidson College, Alicia Rhett of Charleston, Marie Hollings of the City of Charleston Division of Archives and Records, and David R. Smith of the Walt Disney Archives, Burbank, California. The analysis of the Colono and prehistoric ceramics from Hampton was conducted with the assistance of Leland Ferguson and Marion Smith of the Department of Anthropology of the University of South Carolina and Stanley South of the Institute of Archeology and Anthropology of the same University. iv The Hampton plantation project was conducted by the Institute of Archeology and Anthropology and thanks go to its Director, Robert L. Stephenson for support and assistance. Appreciation is also due Stanley South for his consultation during the course of the work; Kate Singley for conserving archeological specimens recovered; Darby Erd for producing the artwork and graphics accompanying the text; Gordon Brown for the photographic work contained in it; Kenneth Pinson for editing the manu­ script; and Sandra J. Lee for typing the final copy. v LIST OF FIGURES Page FIGURE 1: Locator map of Hampton Plantation State Park~ Clzarleston County~ South Carolina. •..•.• 1 FIGURE 2: Map of soil types in the vicinity of Hampton Plantation (Source: MiZler 1971). • • • • • 4 FIGURE 3: The DeBrahm map of 1757 showing the location of Horry property (No. 34) south of the island at the confluence of Wambaw Creek and the South Santee Rivep. .................. 12 FIGURE 4: Vertical aerial view of Hampton plantation in 1950 (Source: USDAASCS 1950). .... .. .. 13 FIGURE 5: Facsimile of a portion of the Diamond plat of Hampton and other adjacent Horry plantations in 1809 ....................... 15 FIGURE 6: Comparison of cotton~ rice~ and corn production in Georgetown District/County~ South Carolina~ 1840- 1910 .................. 18 FIGURE 7: Conjectural map of Hampton plantation in the 1800's~ based on the writings of Archibald Rutledge and Richardson (1912) .•••.•••.. 20 FIGURE 8: Hampton plantation house in the early 1900's. (Photo courtesy Irvine Rutledge) ......... 21 FIGURE 9: Hampton plantation house in the 1940's (Photo courtesy Will Alston) 22 FIGURE 10: Comparison of population growth in Georgetown District/County and South Carolina as a whole~ 1790-1890. ................. 24 FIGURE 11: Plan of Mount Vernon in Fairfax County~ Virginia~ illustrating a typical plantation settlement pattern (Source: Architect's Emergency Committee 1933: 70-71) ....•........ 27 FIGURE 12: Plan of 1979 archeological excavations at Hampton Plantation State Park. .......... .. 31 FIGURE 13: Map of Hampton Plantation State Park (Source: Hami l ton 1971) •..•..••....•.•.•• 32 FIGURE 14: Comparison of temporal ranges of ceramics types recovered at Hampton plantation. ........ 37 vi LIST OF FIGURES (CONTINUED) Page FIGURE 15: SYMAP showing the distribution of colonial ceramics. .. ... ........ 41 FIGURE 16: SYMAP showing the distribution of early to mid- nineteenth century ceramics ......... 42 FIGURE 17: SYMAP showing the distribution of modern artifacts ............. .. 43 FIGURE 18: SYMAP showing the occurrence of cut and wrought nails with the distribution of brick rubble super- imposed ...................... 51 FIGURE 19: Comparison of historical structures from the 1809 Diamond map and structural material concentrations revealed by the 1979 archeological excavations.. 52 FIGURE 20: Map of structure-based activity areas at Hampton plantation. ........•........... 53 FIGURE 21: Relative frequencies of subsistence and subsis- tence-technological