Judith Smith Ladson (May 1766 – September 4, 1820) was an American heiress and socialite who served as the Second Lady of South Carolina. A member of the colonial

planter class The planter class, known alternatively in the United States as the Southern aristocracy, was a racial and socioeconomic caste of pan-American society that dominated 17th and 18th century agricultural markets. The Atlantic slave trade permitted p ...

, she was the daughter of the slave trader Benjamin Smith and the wife of the politician

James Ladson James Henry Ladson (1753 – 1812) was an American politician, wealthy plantation owner from Charles Town and officer of the American Revolution. He served as the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina from 1792 to 1794, and was a member of the ...

, who served as Lieutenant Governor of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. Through her marriage, she was a member of the

Ladson family The Ladson family is an American family of English descent that belonged to the planter and merchant elite of Charleston, South Carolina from the late 17th century. The family were among the first handful of European settlers of the English colony ...

, one of Charleston's most prominent families.

Biography

Ladson was born in Charleston in 1766 to Benjamin Smith and Mary Wragg. Her father was a prominent planter, slave trader, and merchant who served as Speaker of the South Carolina Royal Assembly. Her mother was a daughter of English slave trader

Joseph Wragg Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

and Huguenot heiress Judith DuBose. Ladson was a great-great granddaughter of Thomas Smith and Joseph Blake, who both served as Colonial Governors of the

Province of South Carolina Province of South Carolina, originally known as Clarendon Province, was a province of Great Britain that existed in North America from 1712 to 1776. It was one of the five Southern colonies and one of the thirteen American colonies. The monar ...

.''Biographical directory of the South Carolina Senate, 1776–1985'', vol. 2, p. 881, University of South Carolina Press, 1986, Through her father, she was a descendant of Sir George Smith and Sir Nicholas Smith. Ladson was a first cousin of Benjamin Smith, who served as Governor of

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 ...

. Her family, one of the wealthiest families in Charleston, were leading figures in the

British colonization of the Americas The British colonization of the Americas was the history of establishment of control, settlement, and colonization of the continents of the Americas by England, Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. C ...

and the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...

. She spent her childhood at a mid-18th century townhouse on Broad Street, her family's primary residence. She also spent time at her father's two plantations, the Accabee Plantation in the St. Andrew Parish on the

Ashley River The Ashley River is a blackwater and tidal river in South Carolina, rising from the Wassamassaw and Great Cypress Swamps in western Berkeley County. It consolidates its main channel about five miles west of Summerville, widening into a ti ...

, and a two-thousand acre plantation in the St. James Parish near Goose Creek. 49 Broad

On October 1, 1778, she married

, a planter and military officer who served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. Prior to their marriage, a settlement was made between Ladson's father and fiancée, setting her

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

at £100,000, which would come in to the possession of her husband upon her marriage. The settlement also conferred that half of the dowry would be inherited by the couple's children, should Ladson's husband die before her. They had eleven children, including

James H. Ladson James Henry Ladson (1795–1868) was an American planter class, planter and businessman from Charleston, South Carolina. He was the owner of James H. Ladson & Co., a major Charleston firm that was active in the rice and cotton business, and owned ...

and Sarah Reeve Ladson. Her husband was elected Lieutenant Governor of

in 1792. A prominent

society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...

figure, Ladson was painted by portraitists

John Wollaston John Wollaston may refer to: * John Wollaston (priest) (1791–1856), Anglican clergyman and settler in Western Australia * John Wollaston (painter) John Wollaston (active between 1742 and 1775) was an English painter of portraits who was acti ...

and

Samuel Morse Samuel Finley Breese Morse (April 27, 1791 – April 2, 1872) was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter, in his middle age Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph ...

, the later whose portrait is on display at the

Gibbes Museum of Art The Gibbes Museum of Art, formerly known as the Gibbes Art Gallery, is an art museum in Charleston, South Carolina. Established as the Carolina Art Association in 1858, the museum moved into a new Beaux Arts building at 135 Meeting Street, in t ...

. She died on September 5, 1820, and was buried in the cemetery at St. Philip's Episcopal Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladson, Judith Smith 1766 births 1820 deaths American people of English descent American people of Welsh descent American political hostesses American socialites Colonial American women Episcopalians from South Carolina Judith Judith People from Charleston, South Carolina South Carolina colonial people Spouses of South Carolina politicians 19th-century American Episcopalians