Waverly Plantation was a large

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

of unknown size, located in southern 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, owned by

George Taliaferro Ward George Taliaferro Ward (1810 – May 5, 1862) was a major cotton planter and politician from Leon County, Florida. He served in the Confederate Army as a colonel during the American Civil War, dying near Williamsburg, Virginia. Early life and m ...

Location

Waverly Plantation bordered the

Southwood Plantation Southwood Plantation was a large cotton plantation of located in southern Leon County, Florida, United States and owned by George Taliafero Ward. Location Southwood Plantation bordered the Francis Eppes Plantation on the north and the R. G. Sh ...

on the west.

Multiple plantation statistics

The Leon County Florida 1860 Agricultural Census shows that Southwood Plantation had the following: Besides Waverly, Ward also maintained his plantations of Clifford Place and Southwood. Including Waverly, his holdings totaled of which were improved. Combined, Ward held 160 persons enslaved, produced 7500 bushels of corn and 500 bales of cotton.

Owner

George Taliafero Ward George Taliaferro Ward (1810 – May 5, 1862) was a major cotton planter and politician from Leon County, Florida. He served in the Confederate Army as a colonel during the American Civil War, dying near Williamsburg, Virginia. Early life and m ...

was born in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

in 1810 and moved to Tallahassee in 1825. In that same year Ward became Register of the Land Office, succeeding Samuel R. Overton. From 1838-1839 Ward served on the Legislative Council from Leon County and attended the Constitutional Convention. George T. Ward inherited the land now known as Southwood from his father, George W. Ward. In 1844 Ward married Sarah Jane Chaires of the wealthy Benjamin Chaires family of eastern Leon County and had at least three daughters, Georgima, Anna, and Mattie as well as brothers. Sarah Jane would inherit other properties that were later incorporated into Southwood. The original mansion built in 1865 at Southwood was destroyed by fire. In 1939, George Henderson, grandson of Colonel John and Mattie Henderson, moved the family home from downtown Tallahassee to the old foundation of the original Southwood house.

References

*Special Collections, Robert Manning Strozier Library, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
Rootsweb Plantations1845 voters list
*Paisley, Clifton; ''From Cotton To Quail'', University of Florida Press, c1968. *Florida Memory Project
FSU thesis
{{coord missing, Florida Plantations in Leon County, Florida Cotton plantations in Florida Burned houses in the United States