RIZOMA CEPA

Limerick Plantation was at the head of the northern branch, just north of Kensington Plantation. The original circa 1700 black cypress house burned in the 1920s (Miles 2004:73). Between 1709 and 1754, Limerick was the home seat of Daniel Huger II (1687-1754).

Next, Kensington Plantation lay between Limerick and Hyde Park Plantations. In 1817, Kensington Plantation contained one hundred eight acres, ninety-six of which were in order for cultivation (BFP). Historian Dr. John Beaufain Irving (1800-1881) owned Kensington Plantation in the mid-1800s (Miles 2004:67, 70). In the 1920s, a fire destroyed the original 1745 Kensington house (Miles 2004:70).

Just west of Kensington Plantation was Hyde Park Plantation. In 1817, Hyde Park contained one hundred fifteen acres of tideland, of which one hundred two acres was in cultivation, and four hundred twenty acres was of cleared pine highland (BFP). As early as 1742, John Coming Ball (1714-1764) built and settled upon Hyde Park Plantation when he married (Deas 1909:19). The first house at Hyde Park burned during the Revolutionary War and, in circa 1798, John Ball Sr. (1760-1817) of Kensington Plantation constructed the second Hyde

162

Park house as a ‘maroon’ house rather than a residence (Deas 1909:92-93, 131; Miles 2004:65). Ownership of Kensington Plantation merged with Hyde Park Plantation and the two plantations integrated during the Revolutionary War (Deas 1909:92-93). At his death, John Coming Ball (1714-1764) possessed nearly nine thousand acres of land, including two settled plantations; he inherited some of this land from his father and his first wife Catherine Gendron Ball (d. c.1753), and other lands he purchased (Bates and Leland 2015: 141; Deas 1909:72, 93, 95).

The next two plantations, Midway and St. James, were not a portion of Cypress Barony. Midway Plantation contained 2,421 acres of inland swamp and pine highland including bays and ponds (BFP; Smith 2012:209). It was the remnant of a large inland rice reserve linked to Gough Creek through Kensington Plantation at the midpoint of the public road between the forks of the Cooper River (Ball 1998:260; Deas 1909:133; NRHP 2002:22). From 1802-1810, Isaac Ball (1785-1825) managed Midway Plantation (BFP). In 1817, St. James Plantation contained 1,510 acres of inland swamp; highland with oak, hickory, and pine; and included bays and ponds (BFP). When John Ball Sr. (1760-1817) died, he owned seven plantations, including Kensington, Hyde Park, St. James (aka Saw Mill), and Midway Plantations on the East Branch (Ball 1998:260; BFP).

163

Limerick Plantation

In 1713, Dominick Arthur conveyed Limerick Plantation to French Huguenot émigré merchant-planter Daniel Huger I (1651-1711) for £800 in current South Carolina money (O’Brien 1926:212). In 1709, Daniel Huger II (1687- 1754) purchased Limerick Plantation and made Limerick Plantation his place of residence (Bates and Leland 2015:183; Leiding 1921:84; Salley 1915:219). That same year Daniel Huger II (1687-1754) employed his son in law, Elie Horry (b. 1664/66) as the overseer for Limerick (Bates and Leland 2015:168). In 1737, Daniel Huger II (1687-1754) purchased three hundred twenty acres from John Gough’s sons - John Jr. and Richard Gough (d. 1752) (Smith 1911a:9). Between 1739 and 1741, Francis Roche (d. 1767) sold an additional eight hundred twenty-nine and one-half acres of Cypress Barony to Daniel Huger II (1687-1754) (Hawley 1946:5). Daniel Huger II (1687-1754) increased the acreage at Limerick Plantation to 4,564.5 acres.

Daniel Huger II (1687-1754) died at Limerick Plantation leaving two large estates on the East Branch, Limerick and Rice Hope Plantations, enslaved laborers, and five sons by his second wife Mary Cordes Huger (d. 1746), viz. Isaac (1743-1797), John (1744-1804), Benjamin (1746-1779), Francis (1751-1800), and Daniel III (1741-1799) (Smith 1911a:8). He devised these two plantations to his eldest son, twelve-year-old Daniel Huger III (1741-1799). Fellow French

164

Huguenots Gabriel Manigault (1704-1781), Elias Horry (1707-1783), Daniel Lesesne (1718-1782), and Thomas Cordes (1728-1763) served as his executors until the young Huger attained the age of nineteen. Witnesses to the Last Will were Elias Ball Sr. (1709-1786) and John Coming Ball (1714-1764) (SCHM 1914:92- 94).

In 1764, Daniel Huger III (1741-1799) conveyed Limerick Plantation to Elias Ball, Sr. (1709-1786) (Ball 1998:181; Deas 1909:71-72; Stoney 1932:176). According to the Last Will of Elias Ball, Sr. (1709-1786), dated March 13, 1772, he devised Limerick Plantation to his son, Isaac Ball (1754-1776); however, ten years earlier, Isaac Ball (1754-1776) predeceased his father (Deas 1909:88, 136; Lees 1978:68; Will Book B/1786-1793:196-199). Consequently, ownership of Limerick Plantation devised to Isaac’s brother, Elias Ball III (1752-1810) (Deas 1909:85-89, 118; Lees 1978:68).

Elias Ball III (1752-1810), also known as Elias Ball Jr. and Ole Mas’ ‘Lias, became the first permanent Ball resident at Limerick Plantation (Ball 1998:217; Deas 1909:118, 123; Stoney 1932:176). A bachelor, Elias Ball III (1752-1810) managed other Ball family properties, including Comingtee Plantation, from Limerick Plantation until his death (BFP 1785-1809; Deas 1909; Lees 1978:68).

Elias Ball III (1752-1810) devised Limerick Plantation to his nephew, Isaac Ball (1785-1825), who operated the plantation until his death (Ball 1998:314; Lees

165

1978:68; Will Book E 1807-1818:124). After his marriage in 1810, Isaac Ball (1785- 1825) moved to Limerick Plantation (Deas 1909:136).

Kensington Plantation

On March 22, 1740, Francis Gough (d. 1752), an heir of John Gough Sr., conveyed six hundred seventy acres to John Coming Ball (1714-1764) that became Kensington Plantation (Smith 1911a:9; Will Book 1747-1752:323). In 1764, John Coming Ball (1714-1764) devised Kensington Plantation to Elias Ball II (1709-1786). According to his Last Will dated 1772, Elias Ball II (1709-1786), who died at Kensington, devised it to his son, John Ball Sr. (1760-1817) (Deas 1909:87- 88). When John Ball Sr. (1760-1817) died, his son, John Ball Jr. (1782-1834), purchased Kensington Plantation at auction (Ball 1998:263). A November 30, 1818 advertisement offered a description of the property:

Kensington Plantation, in St. John’s Parish on the Eastern Branch of Cooper River, which contained 108 acres of highland, cleared and wooded, this is a remarkably well settled Plantation, having thereon a two story double dwelling House, with every other

building necessary and convenient. (Southern Patriot; quote in Miles

2004:70)

Hyde Park Plantation

In 1747, Richard Gough (d. 1752) as heir of his brother John Gough, conveyed six hundred acres to Elias Ball (Smith 1911a:10). It is possible that John Coming Ball (1714-1764) inherited Hyde Park from his father’s estate (Deas 1909:93, 95). In 1764, he devised Hyde Park Plantation to his son, Elias Ball (1744-

166

1822) and reserved a life estate for his widow, Judith Boisseau Ball (1725-1772), and all their children (Deas 1909:94, 100). Elias Ball (1744-1822), known as ‘Wambaw’ Elias, did not reside at Hyde Park Plantation, but rather at a nearby plantation he had inherited from his father, Wambaw Plantation in St. James Santee Parish, the former home seat of Daniel Huger I (1651-1711) (Deas 1909:100). Elias ‘Wambaw’ Ball (1744-1822) sided with the English during the Revolutionary War and received the moniker, Tory Elias Ball (Bates and Leland 2015:39, 141; Deas 1909:100-101). Towards the end of the Revolutionary War, Tory Elias Ball (1744-1822) moved his entire family to England and sold Hyde Park to his uncle, Elias Ball II (1709-1786); however, his stepmother, Judith Boisseau Ball (1725-1772), continued to live there until her death (Deas 1909:100- 101).

Elias Ball II (1709-1786) died at Kensington Plantation and according to his 1772 Last Will, he devised Hyde Park Plantation to his son John Ball (1760-1817), except for a twenty-foot square “reserved as a Place of Family Sepulture for ever [sic]” (Deas 1909:87-88). When John Ball (1760-1817) died, his son, Isaac Ball (1785-1825) of Limerick Plantation, purchased Hyde Park Plantation at auction (Ball 1998:263). A November 30, 1818 advertisement noted that Hyde Park Plantation contained:

167

115 acres of highland, and wooded chiefly in Pine, this is also a remarkably well settled Plantation, having on it an excellent Tide Mill, which does as much execution as the most of the Mills built by Mr. Lucas, a small dwelling House, and every other building necessary for the Plantation. (Southern Patriot; quote in Miles 2004:65)

St. James/Saw Mill Plantation

In 1747, Edward O’Neale Gough (d. before 1752) and Francis Gough (d. 1752), the heirs of John Gough Sr. conveyed 1,910 aces to John Coming Ball (1714- 1764) that became St. James/Saw Mill Plantation (Smith 1911a:9; Stoney 1932:181; Will Book 1747-1752:323). John Coming Ball (1714-1764) devised St. James Plantation to his son Elias Ball II (1709-1786) (Deas 1909:93). At that time, St. James Plantation contained only one thousand acres (Ball 1998:145). Ownership continued in the Ball family and followed the same trajectory as Kensington and Hyde Park Plantations.

Midway Plantation

In the early 1800s, John Ball Sr. (1760-1817) purchased Midway Plantation, which contained one hundred fifty acres (Ball 1998:260). By 1798, Midway Plantation contained 2,421 acres, surrounding a Carolina Bay (Schantz 1987:3-4; Smith 2012:209). Between 1802 and 1810, Isaac Ball (1785-1825) managed Midway Plantation for his father, John Ball Sr. (1760-1817) and, between 1805 and 1807, Isaac Ball (1785-1825) lived at Midway Plantation (BFP; Deas 1909:136; Smith

168

2012:209). When John Ball Sr. (1760-1817) died, Isaac Ball (1785-1825) purchased Midway Plantation (Deas 1909:136).