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Capt. Donald Rowe’s plat between Bull Swamp and Little Bull Swamp

Today’s posting discusses another plat I have located that is useful for tracing the enumerator’s trip through Orangeburgh District in 1840. This plat also serves as a good example of several points to keep in mind when doing this work.

This survey brings out the need to be familiar with the geography of the area. There are two fairly large watersheds that are known as Bull Swamp in Orangeburgh District. One flows into the North Fork of the Edisto River northwest of Orangeburg. The other flows into Four Hole Swamp east of Orangeburg. I distinguish these two streams as Bull Swamp of the North Edisto and Bull Swamp of the Four Hole. Fortunately, most surveyors also made this distinction but not all did! (There is also a small stream in the Forks of the Edisto area that was called Bull Branch for a brief period of time in the 1800s.) As they say in a similar line of work: Location, location, location …

Donald Rowe owned property in many areas of Orangeburgh District. The 1851 Orangeburg District Tax List (published in South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, v. 7, p. 110) shows that he owned 11,297 acres when he died. This brings up another important point when working with plats and doing this mapping work. It is often easier to locate and map property for someone who owned only one parcel than it is for someone who had multiple landholdings. Many people had land that they did not live on. Census records can give us clues to where someone lived. Donald Rowe did not live on this acreage he had surveyed in 1843, but, the plat gives us important clues about who did live in the area.

By substituting sequential numbers from my 1840 census book for names of some of the adjoining landowners on this plat, it becomes possible to identify portions of two routes used by J. J. Andrews when traversing the area in 1840. These sequential numbers also clear up some conflicting data on the plat document. On the drawing of the plat, Walter Knight was listed as the adjacent owner in two places. In the text of the document, Anthony Patterson’s name appeared in one of those positions. By using the census numbers it appears that Patterson was the correct adjoining property owner. Remember that most of these plats have been copied one or more times, increasing the chance for errors like this to happen!

The map I’ve drawn for this plat has several other features of interest as well. The plat shows some roads that no longer exist in addition to one that still does. By noting the location of the Knight Family Cemetery on the map, this probably helps focus on the area where the Knight household may have been located. Keep in mind that most of these household locations are only very approximate, though!

Knight, Knotts, Leysath, Mack, Patterson, Pooser, Robinson, Rowe, Sistrunk, Smith, Sturkey, Whetstone

Click here for a PDF file of this census map:
1840 Census 451 to 457 and 484 to 489

When trying to determine the route a census enumerator used through Orangeburgh District, very few plats will give as much information as the one in my posting on the 1840 Census, Whitford Stage Swamp. For this next effort at uncovering how J. J. Andrews traveled his route in 1840, I’ve jumped over to Scratchnose Swamp in the area frequently referred to as the Forks of the Edisto. Scratchnose Swamp starts just southeast of the town of Norway and flows almost due south into the South Fork of the Edisto River.

The plat I’ve drawn is for 465 acres surveyed for John Fogle on August 20, 1831. It is fairly easy to locate on a topographic map as the surveyor included a good bit of detail about the layout of Scratchnose Swamp on the plat. One of the fun things about the plat is the detail showing the location of “Parlers Pea House.” I’ve simplified the plat drawing a good bit to make it easier to read. The original plat is available from the South Carolina Archives but has also been published in Fogle’s Family History by Leila H. Fogle, page 57.

This plat gives us only two names that appear on the 1840 census, Daniel Parler and John Fogle. Trying to determine where their dwellings may have been located is a bit of a challenge though, as the roads have apparently changed a good bit in the area. This is a picture of the area as it was drawn on the 1913 Soil Survey Map of Orangeburgh County (USC Digital Map Collection):

When you compare this map to the modern topographic map in the next drawing, you will discover several things about the roads. The Cope Road (SC 332) did not exist in 1913. What was labeled the “Path to Fogles” on the plat is probably what is now known as Carmichael Drive. (I am using the 2007 Orangeburg County Street Atlas, page 42, for reference.) The “Road from Tylers” appears to be the modern Willow Swamp Road but the path or road (not labeled on the original plat) that crosses it near the southern part of the property no longer seems to exist. So remember, roads can come and go or remain and get altered in minor or major ways.

In addition to road changes several other questions come to my mind when trying to locate where the Daniel Parler and John Fogle residences may have been in 1840. I have placed Parler’s number (314 from my 1840 Census book) where the unnamed road or path at the bottom of the plat suggests a possible dwelling. I wonder if someone would locate their pea house that far away from their dwelling, though. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I placed John Fogle’s dwelling number (312) where the plat indicated he already owned property. Fogle’s Family History, page 58 states that tradition held that his home was located on the South Fork of the Edisto River and was later owned by Fulmers, Williamsons and G. Barnes. If anyone has any additional details on any of this I would love to hear from you. Whether we have determined the exact locations of the Parler and Fogle households or not, at least we have them in the right neighborhood.

Carmichael, Clark, Fogle, Garrick, Parler, Starn, Tyler

Click here for a PDF file of this census map:
1840 Census 311 to 316

1840 Census Household Locations

When I published my book on the 1840 census for Orange Parish, Orangeburgh District, South Carolina in 2006 I had hoped to include some maps in the book showing locations of some of the households in that census. I was not satisfied with the maps I was able to create at that time so they did not make it into the book.

Between dealing with daily life, experimenting with other ways to make maps, learning new software and upgrading computers, I have finally been able to create maps that I am reasonably satisfied with. The drawing below is the first of several examples I hope to present on this website before I eventually create enough of them to publish as a supplement to my 1840 census book.

When I compiled the 1840 census book I assigned a number to each household. That number should represent the order in which the enumerator visited the families. Using the numbers on a map makes the image less cluttered, helps identify the enumerator’s probable route and gives clues to the locations of households for whom I have not found land records of the correct time and location. Let me know what you think of this method of showing the data.

Arant, Bair, Blackledge, Bozard, Diel (Till), Fersner, Gramling, Heaner, Rast, Stroman, Wolfe

Click here for a PDF file of this census map:
1840 Census 59 to 69