Fenwick Hall recovered quickly after the Revolutionary War thanks to the profits from Sea Island cotton. Edward Jr. sold the property in 1788 to John Gibbes because of Fenwick family lawsuits. Gibbes modernized the mansion by adding the octagonal Federal style wings. After he died in 1803, numerous people owned the land for brief periods of time. The family of Benjamin Reynolds held the land from 1817 to 1838 and the family of Daniel Townsend from 1840 to 1867. Both families prospered by growing and harvesting Sea Island cotton.
Sea Island cotton likely came to the Lowcountry with British Loyalists returning from the Caribbean after the Revolutionary War. The cotton mills in Great Britain eagerly bought this new cotton because its long fibers produced fine fabrics. Manufacturers paid record prices and made many planters millionaires. By the 1820s, the land on Johns Island was some of the most valuable in the state. Advertisements show bales of cotton arriving in Charleston from Fenwick Hall.
Enslaved people who grew Sea Island cotton worked under the task system rather than in gangs that labored for a set number of hours per day. Each enslaved worker was assigned a daily task based on their age and gender. An adult man was expected to cultivate a 1/4 acre, weed a ½ acre, or pick 100 lbs of cotton per day. Benjamin Reynolds purchased Fenwick Hall plantation in 1817. His tax inventory from 1824 shows 81 enslaved people were working on his property, likely growing Sea Island cotton.
During and after the Civil War these lands were quickly inundated and became marsh again. The 1824 inventory of Benjamin Reynolds’ estate lists the names and values of the people he enslaved, as well as his other property.
in taxes for 2,075 acres of land
in taxes for 81 enslaved people
The small number of people living on the property suggests the census took place during a slow time on the plantation. The people listed here likely were taking care of the house and grounds.
Daniel Jenkins Townsend purchased Fenwick in 1840. The 1860 U.S. Census shows the age, sex, and ascribed skin color of 123 people enslaved by him on Johns Island, most likely on the Fenwick Hall property. This is the last census before the Civil War.
