This is a Sandy Island plantation journal written inside of The South Carolina and Georgia Almanac for the year 1792. The plantation journal documents the planting of crops (rice, corns, and potatoes), the maintenance of ditches and drains, slave records, complications with the hiring of an overseer, livestock, and business relations with Laurel Hill Plantation.
1850-1859, 1870-1879, 1860-1869, 1840-1849, 1830-1839, and 1820-1829
Description:
This is the plantation register by Mathurin Guerin Gibbs (1788-1849) for Rice Hope Plantation (January 1, 1824 to December 1844) and Jericho Plantation (December 1844 to 1875). Gibbs, a lawyer before becoming a planter, used the first several pages of the manuscript dating January 1824 to May 1829 for summarizing legal cases. The plantation register primarily documents daily labor activities on the plantation including cultivation and harvesting of staple crops such as corn, cotton (Sea Island Cotton and Santee black seed cotton), rice and potatoes, livestock, and building fences. Gibbes also writes about the use and management of slave labor, the movement of enslaved people between the plantation and Charleston, and selling and purchasing of enslaved people. Slave names are included in portions of the register. Gibbs notes throughout the register the struggles he encounters as a planter including being unable to pay the mortgage of Rice Hope Plantation and the property going into foreclosure. Most of the entries at the end of the register are regarding slave births, slave deaths and distribution of blankets. Gibbs died in 1849 and the management of the plantation was carried out by his son.
A color photograph of two young girls standing in a large field behind a Potato Variety Test sign listing the cooperating partners. Different variations of the potatoes are marked.
A black and white photograph of two men in a field inspecting potato crops, particularly the bliss triumph variety. Various partners in this endeavor are listed.
A color photograph of a man inspecting his crops, using his hat to look underneath the growth. Photograph has a caption on the back that reads, 'Results of too much fertilizer on spuds [informal term for potato] - 4,000 pounds per acre. Beaufort, S.C.'
A color photograph of laborers harvesting potatoes and putting them into barrels in the background while E.W. King [?] observes. Photograph has a caption on the front that reads, '120 bshls [bushels] per acre. E.W. King - St Andrews Parish [Charleston] S.C. 1929.'
A black and white negative of a man standing in a potato field and holding a sign that reads, '600# [600 pounds] 20% of Manure Salts in [? illegible] Addition to [illegible] Fert [fertilizer].'
A color photograph of a man in a potato field standing next to a barrel of harvested potatoes. A caption on the back of the photograph reads, '100 [illegible] spuds [potatoes] per acre.'
