Barrow Hill Plantation was a large forced-labor farm of located in central Leon County,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, United States. It was established by John S. Winthrop, who by 1860 enslaved 71 people to work his land, which was primarily dedicated to growing cotton as a

cash crop A cash crop or profit crop is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") ...

Location

Barrow Hill Plantation had two tracts of land. The first tract would cover what is now western sections of E. Tennessee St, eastern parts of Miccosukee Road, and

Leon High School Leon High School is a public high school in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is the oldest public high school in the state, and is a part of the Leon County Schools System. History Leon High School is one of the oldest high schools in th ...

. The second tract to the east bordered Joseph John Williams'

La Grange Plantation La Grange Plantation was a large cotton plantation of located in central Leon County, Florida, Leon County, Florida, United States established by Joseph John Williams. Location La Grange Plantation was located just east of Tallahassee in 2 tracts ...

on the west and would cover what is now a part of Chaires Cross, a part of Buck Lake Road, and

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

Plantation specifics

The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that Barrow Hill Plantation had the following: * Improved Land: * Unimproved Land: * Cash value of plantation: $10,000 * Cash value of farm implements/machinery: $500 * Cash value of farm animals: $3000 * Number of enslaved persons: 71 * Bushels of corn: 2,200 * Bales of cotton: 204 Agents on behalf of John Winthrop: *R.S.D. Hays *T.W. Lawrence

The owner

John S. Winthrop was a native of

New Bern New Bern, formerly called Newbern, is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 29,524, which had risen to an estimated 29,994 as of 2019. It is the county seat of Craven County and t ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. Information shows that in 1860, Winthrop was still a legal

minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

. Due to the ''

SS Home SS ''Home'' was a steam packet ship built in 1836 and wrecked in 1837 during Racer's Storm with a loss of 90 lives. She was commanded by Captain Carleton White. History ''Home'' was built for Mr. James P. Allaire, of New York City, a paddle ...

'' wreck of 1837, Winthrop was due to receive a large property inheritance originally going to Henrietta Smith, his great-

grandmother Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetics, ge ...

and

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

of the deceased Mrs. Hardy Croom of

Goodwood Plantation In 1824, in appreciation of the enormous service rendered to this country by the Marquis de Lafayette during the Revolutionary War, Congress voted to grant him a full township in the Florida Territory. This tract was called the Lafayette Land Gr ...

. John Winthrop, like other

planters Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentil ...

, would feel the effects of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, losing plantation land and the legal right to enslave people. Winthrop eventually built a fine home in Tallahassee in 1890.

John Winthrop's home

The below photos(?) are of John S. Winthrop's home at 610 N. Monroe Street in

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...

. The home was built in 1890 by John and his wife, Lilia Chouteau Winthrop. It later went to John's son Francis B. Winthrop, who served a term as

Mayor of Tallahassee The Mayor of Tallahassee is head of the executive branch of the government of Tallahassee, Florida. For part of the city's history the office of mayor was a rotating position chosen among city commissioners. Tallahassee switched to the direct e ...

, and wife Gertude Chittenden Withrop who lived there from 1910-1925. Guy Winthrop and wife Ada Belle Winthrop inhabited after.

References

Rootsweb Plantations
*Paisley, Clifton. ''From Cotton To Quail'', University of Florida Press, c1968. {{coord missing, Florida Plantations in Leon County, Florida Cotton plantations in Florida