Burgesstown Plantation was a large
forced-labor farm of in northern
Leon County, Florida
Leon County is a county in the Panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. It was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. As of the 2020 census, the population was 292,198.
The county seat is Tallahassee, which is also the state cap ...
, United States established by Frederich R. Cotten between 1850 and 1855. Cotten used the forced labor of
enslaved people to work his land, which was primarily devoted 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") ...
.
Plantation location
Burgesstown extended to the west as far as the
Ochlockonee River
The Ochlockonee River ( ) is a fast running river, except where it has been dammed to form Lake Talquin in Florida, originating in Georgia and flowing for before terminating in Florida.
Background
The name is from the Hitchiti language words ...
, to the east it would cross what is now Meridian Road and border the southern edge of
Lake Iamonia
Lake Iamonia is a large, subtropical prairie lake in northern Leon County, Florida, United States, created during the Pleistocene epoch.
History
Forming Iamonia
Lake Iamonia's base was established during the Early Pleistocene through submerg ...
. The boundaries would continue east and include the development of Luna Pines and the northern reaches of the development of Killearn Lakes Plantation and would protrude south into the development of Golden Eagle Plantation and Golden Eagle Country Club.
The smaller southern section of the plantation bordering
Lake Jackson encompasses what is now the western edge of Phipps-Overstreet Park, the western part of Miller Landing Rd. and E. Rollins Point Rd.
Plantation statistics
The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that Burgesstown Plantation had the following:
*Improved Land:
*Unimproved Land:
*Cash value of plantation: US$22,000
*Cash value of farm implements/machinery: $200
*Cash value of farm animals: $600
*Number of enslaved persons: 274
*
corn
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
: 13,000 bushels (460 m³)
*cotton: 825 bales
Frederick Cotten also had control over a farm of his deceased brother which produced 185 bales of cotton. Cotten's total real estate was valued at $100,000.
During the dry season of April and May, Cotten took advantage of his property being located on two lakes which would dry in to prairie lakes. Cotten used the now extra area to graze his $17,600 worth of livestock including over 1000 swine, 16 work oxen, 60 dairy cows, 72 mules and asses, and 15 horses.
In addition to growing cotton, in 1860 Cotten harvested:
*4000 bushels (140 m³) of sweet potatoes
*75 tons of hay
*2000 bushels (70 m³) of peas and beans
*30 bushels (10 m³) of Irish potatoes
The owner
Frederich R. Cotten who had moved with his wife Elizabeth to Leon County in 1841 from North Carolina. Frederich was the son of Spencer D. Cotten of Tarboro, North Carolina.
On May 26, 1845, Cotten participated in the first statewide election for Florida House of Representatives, state representatives and was one of six elected from Leon County.
In 1851, Cotten purchased 35 people trafficked for enslavement: Old Penny, young Penny, Wilkes, Enoch, Molly, Sarry, Sylvia, Albery, Nancy, Rosetta, Betsy, John, Franklin, Jacob Sr., Jacob Jr., Jerry, Frederick, Penelope, Lucy, Jenny, Lydia, Guni [?], Seaborn, Susan, Washington, Aga [?], George, Martha, Sarah, Louisa Winna, Mourning, Scipio, Davy, Parthana, and Margaret. Cotten's enslaved people were valued at $164,000.
[
Paisley, Clifton; ''From Cotton To Quail'', University of Florida Press, c1968.]
Cotten died July 7, 1878.
Ownership transfer
The plantation property was kept by the Cotten heirs, the Whiteheads, until they sold the portion which ran along the south shore of Lake Iamonia to Lloyd Griscom who named it Luna Plantation.
References
External links
Rootsweb PlantationsFlorida Historical Markers programFile on slave trade
(PDF)
{{Coord missing, Florida
Plantations in Leon County, Florida
Cotton plantations in Florida