Beschreibung:

approximately 35 items, most involving the transfer of lands along the Pee Dee River, that over a century later, in 1846, would become the plantation of Nightingale Hall. The lot records the transfers of land in the 18th century from William and Hannah Swinton to Daniel and Thomas LaRoche in 1733-34, from George and Elizabeth Saxby to George Austin in 1753, from Thomas Lynch et al. to George Austin in 1757, and from William Moultrie to Elias Ball in 1791. As the plantation "comes together," one piece of land is sold to Benjamin Allston in 1800, and another piece in 1817. Another group of documents record the sale of not only land, but the house, all equipment (wagons, etc.), all furnishings in the house, and 107 slaves to Richard Allston in 1846 (for the princely sum of $80,000), when Allston apparently gave the estate its name. There are underlying stories here, however, that are often lost in later history. One, obviously, involves the slaves sold as part of the estate in the 1840s. The first document that names the trustees of the land notes that there are 107 slaves. By the time Allston took possession of the property, only 95 souls were transferred. An addendum to the sale notes that 5 slaves had been sold between 1841 and 1846, one of whom was "William", and he is noted as being "in the woods" - escaped. The addendum notes that after the sale was completed, William the man who was represented as being in the woods, i.e. "runaway" was in fact drowned a week or two before the sale of the Plantation, therefore the trustees were reducing the price by $600 since William was not included. In the notes in this addendum, the trustees also imply that William has done this before, that is why he was assumed to have run away, and he had actually been sold so that the new owners had the responsibility of tracking him down if they wanted their property. The other story is a bit more obtuse, in part because all documents related to the surrounding properties are not present. Parts of this estate at times belonged to the Moultrie family. William Moultrie was born in Charleston, later serving in the state House of Commons and with the militia during the Cherokee Wars. As war with Britain became a certainty, he seized the public arsenals around Charleston and began building defenses for the city. He was charged by the Continental Army to fortify Sullivan's Island. Finding little stone with which to build a fort, he devised a plan that utilized two lines of palmetto logs set 16 feet apart and the space between filled with sand. General Lee, commander of the Southern Department, saw this construction and was certain it would fall to the British. As it turned out, however, Moultrie was right. The logs were "springy" and cannon balls bounced off. He kept the British from taking Charleston and became second in command of the Southern Department (and Fort Moultrie named for him), although 4 years later he had to surrender the city and became a prisoner of war. After parole, he again served the Continentals, achieving the rank of Major General. After the war, he served in rebuilding South Carolina, becoming its Governor in 1785 and again in 1792, serving in state positions and as Lieutenant Governor before and after his gubernatorial terms. Another document in this lot, besides the sale of land by Moultrie above, involved the sale of state lands in 1786 and is signed by Moultrie. William was one of 4 sons. His brother, Thomas, was killed in the Battle of Charleston serving as Captain of the 2nd SC Regiment. Half-brother Alexander became Attorney General of SC. John Moultrie, however, is a touching case. John studied medicine at Edinburgh, and became the first native physician to serve in the colony. He also served in the Cherokee War, as did William. After his first wife died, he married Eleanor Austin, and shortly thereafter moved to Florida, establishing a large plantation of 2000 acres. Besides the standard indigo and rice crops, John experi