The 1866 estate inventory of Hugh Wilson of Wadmalaw Island, SC, lists the names of 136 enslaved people freed by the United States government at the end of the Civil War.

Will

You can view the will of Hugh Wilson1 on FamilySearch, here.

The will mentions the following plantations:

• Ravenswood Plantation, Johns Island, “formerly known as Woodstock,” bequeathed to son Isaac R. Wilson
• Back Pen Plantation, Johns Island
• Point “or Park” Plantation, Johns Island
• Barnwell plantation “recently purchased from H. Easterling”

Estate Inventory

The names of those listed in the estate inventory2 are below. You may choose how many rows to view per page. By clicking on the column heading, you can sort the names alphabetically.

Document Images

Please click on the thumbnail images below to view the full page images:

Suggestions for Further Research

The WPA Slave Narratives include the narrative of Maria Jenkins3, daughter of Aaron Grant and Ellen Grant. All three were enslaved by Hugh Wilson of Wadmalaw Island. You can read Diana Jenkins’ narrative here.

You can learn more about Ravenswood Plantation on SCIWAY’s South Carolina Plantations website.

References Cited

[1] “South Carolina Probate Records, Bound Volumes, 1671-1977,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939L-JWSS-SF?cc=1919417&wc=M6N4-JTL%3A210905601%2C212188901 : 21 May 2014), Charleston > image 269 of 457; citing Department of Archives and History, Columbia.

[2] “South Carolina Estate Inventories and Bills of Sale,” online database at Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/image/256/308409498), Estate Inventories, Book G (1864-1867), Pp. 183-185, accessed 17 Apr 2017. [It is not unusual to see lists of formerly enslaved people in estate inventories filed in Charleston District after 1865. Volumes F (1860-1864) and G (1864-1867) each contain several.]

[3] United States, Library of Congress. Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narrative Project, Vol. 14, South Carolina, Part 3, Jackson-Quattlebaum, Narrative of Maria Jenkins, https://www.loc.gov/resource/mesn.143/?sp=30, accessed 17 Apr 2017.