Sounds like the Low-Country to me Ben if they were talking
about swamps, and the Peidmont (upstate region) referring to
Union.

Just a thought. Maybe they were referring to him being a
"planter" in Union, SC which would mean "plantation owner"
or even a more subtle farmer in some cases.  How well
written was the will? And where was it probated?


Perhaps you can take your place names and search for them
at:

http://mapping.usgs.gov/www/gnis/gnisform.html

OK, I searched for you.... There's a Planterville, near
Georgetown, SC. I searched for all 'swamps' in SC and found
nothing close to the name of your swamp. I do know many
place names changed over time, so don't eliminate
possibilities.

In my opinion, owning slaves did not always mean you had
money. Many people went broke and still had slaves. But in
most cases people who had huge farms needed the helpd and
that came in the form of slaves. So if he was a planter...
he could have slaves, or his family could have farmed the
land. A smaller number of slaves could mean that he wasn't
living on a 'working' plantation, and he just had house
servants. And sometimes slaves were willed to people with
little means or income. Owning slaves could also mean that
you just had black/mullato family members living with you.
Slaves could be treated as valuable property, or valued
people, and most slaves were very valuable. Some people
traded them like cattle, and others developed relationships
with them and could not sell them just for money's sake. So,
I would say check to see the "property value" of a family
which is listed on some of the census records if you want to
know the family's worth in $'s. But if he had 300 slaves
chances are he had a working plantation and money up the
Wazzoo!


this has been my opionion...  I've got them up the Wazzoo!<

Janet Nielson Jilote
Chas, SC