Plantations of Leon County, Florida explained

The forced-labor farms of Leon County were numerous and vast. Leon County, Florida, was a hub of cotton production. From the 1820s through 1850s Leon County's fertile red clay soils and long growing season attracted cotton planters from Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina, among other states as well as countries abroad.

Enslaved workers in Leon County

For some time before the early stages of the Civil War Leon County was the fifth-largest producer of cotton in Georgia and Florida.^[1] Another source states that Leon County led the state in cotton production.^[2] Because of this, in 1840, there were only 654 adult white males, but 3980 people "engaged in agriculture".^[3] In 1860, 73% of the population of Leon County consisted of enslaved black persons;^[4] as was true elsewhere in the South,^[5] the value of those enslaved persons far exceeded the value of all the land in the county.^[6] Leon County had more enslaved people than any other county in Florida,^[7] and it was, therefore, the wealthiest county in Florida.^[8] It was also the center of Florida's slave trade.

Forced-labor farms in 1860

Note: Value = plantation value in United States dollars. TA = total area. IA = improved area. UA = unimproved area. Corn = in bushels. Cotton = bales of cotton

Leon County Plantations 1860

Enslaver	Value	TA (acre)	IA	UA	Enslaved people	Corn	Cotton	Notes
William Alderman	$5000	980acres	500 acres (2 km^2)	480acres	36	3000	75
Silas D. Allen	$2000	550acres	250 acres (1 km^2)	300acres	22	1000	180
Jesse Averett Plantation	Jesse Averett, Sr.	N/A	19601acres	1200acres	680acres	60	2500	80
	$42,670	2510acres	825acres	564acres	75	4000	352
	$14,475	1440acres	700acres	840acres	67	4000	120
	$10,000	3990acres	2590acres	1400acres	71	3200	204
S. A. Belton	$12,000	N/A	600acres	400acres	N/A	500	N/A
	$10,000	520acres	470acres	50acres	24	N/A	N/A
	$00,000	0000	0000	00	0000	000	000
	$9000	900acres	500 acres (2 km^2)	400	N/A	3000	40
	$7000	1400acres	600acres	800acres	52	2500	100
	$1300	N/A	700acres	300acres	N/A	1500	75
	$22,000	8100acres	3800acres	4300acres	274	1300	825
William H. Branch	$13,375	1070acres	670acres	500 acres (2 km^2)	57	3000	120
	$31,000	2000 acres (8 km^2)	1000 acres (4 km^2)	1000acres	77	5000	260
	$15,000	1228acres	800acres	428acres	70	3000	200
	$50,000	3800acres	1400acres	2400acres	130	5000	200
	$18,400	1840acres	1000 acres (4 km^2)	800acres	64	5000	200
J. B. Christie	$12,000	1420acres	600acres	800acres	37	1500	80
Charles Cole	$7680	N/A	600acres	300acres	30	1500	85
Henry Copeland	$10,000	N/A	300acres	200acres	55	3000	81
John A. Craig	$20,000	1150acres	600acres	550acres	44	3500	150
William P. Craig	$13,000	1150acres	690acres	350acres	38	1000	62
Alex Cromartie	$12,600	1255acres	600acres	700acres	53	4000	90
John Cromartie	$5760	960acres	500 acres (2 km^2)	460acres	52	1500	37
J. Q. Cromartie	$13,000	1320acres	300acres	840acres	40	3000	50

Leon County Plantations 1860 (Continued)

Enslaver	Value	TA	IA	UA	Enslaved people	Corn	Cotton	Notes
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
El Destino (partly in Jefferson County)	$17,000 (1832)	7638acres
	$53,600	6700acres	3600acres	3100acres	135	6000	350
	$24,000	1920acres	950acres	970acres	70	3000	70
A. A. Fisher	N/A	1144acres	625acres	475acres	46	3000	105
R. N. Fisher	$11,800	1080acres	500 acres (2 km^2)	580acres	45	3000	100
Dr. George Galphin	$12,500	989acres	500 acres (2 km^2)	500acres	50	1300	75
C. B. Gamble	$10,000	N/A	600acres	240acres	N/A	2500	60
William Germany	$20,000	3240acres	1000 acres (4 km^2)	1240acres	40	1500	47
	$33,640	1675acres	1050acres	625acres	58	2500	150
William A. Harvin	$11,500	N/A	600acres	550acres	36	3000	91
Alex B. Hawkins	$38,700	2000 acres (8 km^2)	1130acres	860acres	51	1800	93
Richard Hayward	$62,680	N/A	7444acres	450acres	51	2000	150
	$30,000	1600acres	1200acres	1400acres	95	7000	225
	See (Pine Hill)
	$16,600	1800acres	900acres	900acres	47	3000	216
Edward Houstoun	$25,000	N/A	900acres	3600acres	78	3500	180
	$25,000	2620acres	1500 acres (6 km^2)	1140acres	116	7000	181
	$33,000	2600acres	1320acres	1280acres	180	6000	454
	$55,200	4150acres	3150acres	1000 acres (4 km^2)	232	N/A	N/A
T. B. Lamar	$1500	1120acres	1200acres	750 acres (3 km^2)	41	2000	100
Thomas J. Laversage	$8000	1560acres	1700acres	300acres	48	2000	70
	$4000	1560acres	820acres	260acres	68	2000	73
Ellen C. Long	$13,000	N/A	700acres	500 acres (2 km^2)	52	1800	120
	$40,000	1600acres	800acres	810acres	70	3000	150
John Miller	$35,000	2517acres	1400acres	1300acres	80	5000	180

Leon County Plantations 1860 (Continued)

Labor Camp	Value	TA	IA	UA	Enslaved People	Corn	Cotton	Notes
	$35,000	2517acres	1400acres	1300acres	80	5000	180
John C. Montford	$800	1080acres	500 acres (2 km^2)	540acres	35	2000	41
	$20,000	2204acres	1200acres	1200acres	80	2000	80
William S. Murray	$8000	1120acres	520acres	400acres	33	2500	45
	$26,720	5640acres	1200acres	4440acres	20	5000	300
	$31,000	3844acres	1300acres	2544acres	118	4500	167
M. D. Papy	$9000	1200acres	500 acres (2 km^2)	700acres	43	3000	54
William Perkins	$15,300	1568acres	900acres	800acres	42	2500	93
Julian S. Pettes	$3000	N/A	350acres	800acres	N/A	3000	75
	$28,000	3270acres	1500 acres (6 km^2)	1770acres	130	4000	225
	$48,000	5000 acres (20 km^2)	4756acres	5756acres	99	8500	206
L. S. Raines	$10,000	1000 acres (4 km^2)	500 acres (2 km^2)	500acres	43	1500	75
Thomas Randall	$40,000	N/A	800acres	2800acres	38	2500	75
W. F. Robertson	$12,000	1320acres	600acres	720acres	30	2000	100
J. A. J. Roney	$27,000	N/A	1580acres	550acres	77	6000	198
	$4000	60acres	50acres	5acres	N/A	N/A	N/A
	$24,000	1400acres	800acres	600acres	90	1000	225
	$5000	840acres	225acres	N/A	26	97	1800
	$10,000	520acres	350acres	250 acres (1 km^2)	N/A	80	1500
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Daniel Switzer	$6000	620acres	300acres	320acres	N/A	N/A	N/A
	$36,000	3000 acres (12 km^2)	1500 acres (6 km^2)	1500 acres (6 km^2)	172	3000	200
	$20,000	2500 acres (10 km^2)	1000 acres (4 km^2)	1500 acres (6 km^2)	63	2500	160
	$12,000	2120acres	1700acres	420acres	65	2500	80
	$18,400	1840acres	900acres	940acres	65	2500	130
	$00,000	0000	000	000	000	000	000
J. E. Whitaker	N/A	2280acres	1300acres	1200acres	94	2000	157
	$8000	N/A	400acres	400acres	37acres	2000	100
T. B. Winn	$13,920	N/A	800acres	364acres	52acres	3000	81
	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Note: Value = Plantation Value. IA = Improved Acres. UA = Unimproved Acres. Enslaved People = Number of persons enslaved. Machinery = Worth of machinery. Livestock = Worth of livestock.

Leon County Smaller Farms 1860

Enslaver	Value	IA	UA	Enslaved People	Machinery	Livestock	Notes
E. P. Johnson	$1410	88acres	388acres	N/A	$10	$260
William Johnson	$1410	88acres	388acres	N/A	$10	$260
E. S. McCollum	$1000	75acres	800acres	N/A	$125	$880
Jackson Moody	$500	25acres	165acres	N/A	$20	$300
S. W. Sweatman	$1440	117acres	123acres	N/A	$100	$550

See also

• List of plantations in the United States
• Slavery in the United States

Further reading

• Web site: Leon County, Florida: Largest Slaveholders From 1860 Slave Census Schedules and Surnames Matches For African Americans on 1870 Census . Tom . Blake . 2003 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20060521194210/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ajac/flleon.htm . 2006-05-21 . freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com.
• Web site: Leon County Florida : 1860 Agricultural Census. 1860. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20080124215444/http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/fl/leon/census/1860agri.txt. 2008-01-24. ftp.rootsweb.com.

Notes and References

1. Book: Clifton Paisley . From cotton to quail an agricultural chronicle of leon country florida 1860-1967 . 1968 . Internet Archive.
2. Larry E. Rivers, ""Slavery in Microcosm: Leon County, Florida, 1824 to 1860", The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 66, No. 3 (Autumn, 1981), pp. 235–245, at p. 240, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2716918, consulted 6/4/2015.
3. Web site: 10. 1941. Historical Sketch of Leon County. Works Progress Administration, Historical Records Survey. 2021-07-20. 2017-12-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20171228232511/https://www.floridamemory.com/FMP/wpa_county_histories/large/wpa_county_history_leon_01_08.jpg. live.
4. Rivers, p. 237.
5. David Brion Davis, Inhuman Bondage. The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World, Oxford University Press, 2006,, p. 298.
6. Rivers, p. 243.
7. Julia Floyd Smith, Slavery and Plantation Growth in Antebellum Florida 1821-1860, Gainesville, University of Florida Press, 1973,, Appendix B, "Excerpts from County Tax Books in Florida Showing Ownership in Acreage and Slaves", pp. 213-222.
8. Smith, p. 140.