Joshua John Ward | |
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Born | |
Died | February 27, 1853 52) Brookgreen Plantation Georgetown County, S.C. | (aged
Joshua John Ward, of Georgetown County, South Carolina, is known as the American slaveholder who owned the most slaves at one point, [1] dubbed "the king of the rice planters". [2]
In 1850 he held 1,092 slaves; [2] Ward was the largest slaveholder in the United States before his death in 1853. In 1860 his heirs (his estate) held 1,130 or 1,131 slaves. [1] [2]
The Brookgreen Plantation, where he was born and later lived, has been preserved. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1992. The house and plantation are now part of a park called Brookgreen Gardens.
Ward was born November 24, 1800, at his parents' Brookgreen Plantation, South Carolina, the son of Joshua Ward, a planter and banker, and his wife Elizabeth Cook. [3]
Ward was married March 14, 1825, in South Carolina to Joanna Douglas Hasell. They lived with their family chiefly at Brookgreen Plantation. Ward died there on February 27, 1853; at the time of his death he owned 10 slaves. [3]
Born into the elite planter class, Ward was taught the skills and knowledge for taking on such responsibilities as an adult. He was likely tutored at home as part of his education. During his life, he inherited Brookgreen Plantation and acquired several others. All were used for rice production, which was the major commodity crop in antebellum South Carolina. He also bought more enslaved African Americans as laborers for these plantations.
He became politically active in the Democratic Party, which was dominated by the planter elite in the antebellum years. Ward was elected as the 44th lieutenant governor of South Carolina, serving from 1850 to 1852 under Governor John Hugh Means.
Brookgreen Plantation has been preserved as part of Brookgreen Gardens park. The plantation and contributing buildings was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1992, after having been listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
Georgetown is the third oldest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina and the county seat of Georgetown County, in the Lowcountry. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 9,163. Located on Winyah Bay at the confluence of the Black, Great Pee Dee, Waccamaw, and Sampit rivers, Georgetown is the second largest seaport in South Carolina, handling over 960,000 tons of materials a year, while Charleston is the largest.
Murrells Inlet is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Georgetown County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,547 at the 2010 census. It is about 13 miles south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and 21 miles north of Georgetown, the county seat.
Brookgreen Gardens is a sculpture garden and wildlife preserve, located just south of Murrells Inlet, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The 9,100-acre (37 km2) property includes several themed gardens featuring American figurative sculptures, the Lowcountry Zoo, and trails through several ecosystems in nature reserves on the property. It was founded by Archer Milton Huntington, stepson of railroad magnate Collis Potter Huntington, and Anna Hyatt Huntington, his wife, to feature sculptures by Anna and her sister Harriet Randolph Hyatt Mayor, along with other American sculptors. Brookgreen Gardens was opened in 1932. It was developed on property of four former rice plantations, taking its name from the former Brookgreen Plantation, which dates to the antebellum period.
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