Wantoot Plantation

WANTOOT PLANTATION St. Juliens and Ravenel Families By Mr. F. M. Kirk

Wantoot, patrimonial estate of St. Juliens and Ravenels, which has withstood the ravages of Indian warfare, the Revolution, and the War Between the States, will be covered by water for the Santee-Cooper project.

The plantation, a landmark from early Colonial days, is located six miles from Pinopolis, lies within the Pinopolis basin of the gigantic hydro-electric development. Santee will cover the site of the fort that protected this section from Indian attacks more than two hundred years ago and the broad acres that yielded fortunes to St. Julien descendants will be obliterated.

When the first Santee canal was being constructed during the last decade of the eighteenth century, Daniel Ravenel protected his property through threat of arms, when Colonel Senf, engineer in charge, threatened to cut his banks and flood his rice fields. But nothing, now, can save the historic plantation, if projected plans go through.

House Modeled on Frigate

Wantoot was a proprietory grant to the St. Julien family when they emigrated from France following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The original house, ruthlessly burned by Yankees during the Confederate War, was built in 1712, and was a massive structure.

It is said to have been built on the model of a Dutch frigate, turned upside down. It had a Dutch roof, through which rose huge chimneys. The building was constructed of heavy cypress, and served as one of the fortresses during the Indian uprisings of colonial days.

The St. Julien name died out. Of the ten men in the family, none left male descendants. Daniel Ravenel, of Somerton, married an heiress of the St. Julien family and became the owner of Wantoot. For the century and a half following the plantation became the principal residence of the Ravenel family. Through marriage, it later became the property of the Macbeth family. Still later it was bought by the late Hawkins Jenkins, who built the house now standing. It was sold by the Jenkins to the Pegues family. It is now owned by John Kimberly, of Asheville.

Indian Fort There

During the Indian uprisings of 1715 St. John's and St. Stephen's Parishes were frontier provinces. Three forts were established in the section as places of refuge for the pioneer colonists. One was on Cooper River at Mulberry Castle; another on Santee river at Schinkins, and the third at Wantoot, then the property of the first Daniel Ravenel.

The garrison at Schinkins was massacred through Indian treachery. A party of Indians was permitted to enter the fort under pretence of friendship. All had tomahawks concealed under their blankets. One Negro escaped and ran to Wantoot to give the alarm to Colonel Edward Hyrne, commanding the garrison there.

The colonel advanced with force of men and surprised the Indians, who were still feasting in celebration of the massacre. None escaped, Daniel Ravenel , I , of Wantoot, distinguished himself during the Revolution, as did his son of the same name. Daniel II, entered General Marion's service at the age of sixteen and distinguished himself during the whole course of the war.

Horse Returned by Marion

Both were horse lovers, and their stables boasted some of the finest blooded stock in America. The pride of the plantation was "Lucy", a bay filly. The mare was requisitioned for military use by Colonel Hezekiah Maham, who mounted his servant on her. Appeals for her return were refused by the quick-tempered Colonel Maham. Finally Daniel Ravenel took his complaint to General Marion, who ordered her immediate return to her rightful owner.

During the Revolution the British general, Stewart, made Wantoot his headquarters. In his diary for the year 1781, a relative and contemporary of Daniel Ravenel, of Wantoot, made this complaint: "October 13. Genl. Stewart with 2000 of the British Troops and Militia Tories came to Wantoot and remained there till the 22nd November, in which time the Militia was here every day taking my Rice, Corn, Potatoes, etc."

At Wantoot lies the British officer, Major John Majoribanks. This officer was one of the most useful and efficient at the Battle of Eutaw Springs. It was Majoribanks, who, stationed on Eutaw creek with a battalion of infantry, prevented the complete rout of the British.

On the retreat from Eutaw Springs to Charleston, Major Majoribanks fell ill, and his comrades, were forced to leave him at Wantoot. Racked by fever, the officer sought refuge in the hut of one of Daniel Ravenel's slaves. In a few days he died and was buried by his enemy along the old Black oak road. A cypress board was placed to his memory, which remained intact until 1836.

Ravenels Erect Marker

In that year it fell and a letter was sent to the English war office informing them of the grave of one of England's heroes, and asking if his native country wished to put a marker to his memory.

The proud reply came back: "If England put up a monument wherever one of her heroes lay, the world would be white with stones." The sons of Daniel Ravenel erected in the same year the monument to Major Majoribanks that still stands.

On Wantoot four swamps unite to form Biggin swamp. In order to concentrate these streams into one, for the purpose of distributing it for rice cultivation, Daniel Ravenel dug a canal considered to have been the greatest work undertaken by a private citizen up to the time of its construction. The canal, still clearly traceable, was sixty feet in width and ran for a mile and a quarter.

It was the bank of this canal that Colonel Senf wished to cut draining off water from rice fields during the growing season. Daniel Ravenel, II, advised that he would protect his property with arms. Colonel Senf wisely waited until the crop was harvested.

Ordered Burned by Potter

Charles Macbeth, of Charleston, married the great-granddaughter of the first Daniel Ravenel, of Wantoot, and thus became the joint owner of the plantation. Charles Macbeth was a marked man with the Yankees, as he was mayor of the city of secession and when Northern troops poured into defenseless St. John's at the end of the struggle, his property was destroyed, the house being burned at the order of General Potter.

"Mr. Macbeth was guilty of several heinous crimes," wrote Professor Frederick A. Porcher in 1868. "He was mayor of Charleston: he had sons in the army of the Confederacy who had distinguished themselves; and the stern justice of General Potter, condemned Wantoot house to the flames. It was a heartless act of incendiarism, executed in cold blooded malice, when not a Confederate solider was to be found within a hundred miles."

Shortly before the war, Charles Macbeth had netted one hundred thousand dollars in five years on the plantation.

At Wantoot one may well think of the lines by Samuel DuBose, written before the fortress-like old house was burned; "We are in the midst of sacred territory; about us armies were encamped, houses were burned, men imprisoned and brutally murdered; but as these were merely incidents to more stirring events, they have escaped the notice of the historian, and we now tread the ground without a thought of scenes that were enacted on it."

Soon water will cover that ground.

WANTOOT PLANTATION St. Juliens and Ravenel Families Wantoot Another Plantation To Be Flooded from Santee Charles Macbeth Made $100,000 in Five Years There Just Before Confederate War - House Burned by Yankee