The Middleton Place Privy House / An Archeological View of Nineteenth Century Plantation Life

Helen Woolford Haskell
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA INSTITUTE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY POPULAR SERIES 1
Columbia, South Carolina
September, 1981
The University of South Carolina offers equal opportunity in its employment, admissions and educational activities, in accordance with Title IX, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other civil rights laws.
I wish to thank Harvey S. Teal and George B. Hartness of Columbia, South Carolina; M. Mellanay Delham of Charlotte, North Carolina; Harmon Wray of Memphis, Tennessee; and Jan B. Eklund of the Smithsonian Museum for assistance with the artifact analysis. The original research was funded by a grant from the South Carolina Coastal Council. This publication was made possible by a grant from the South Carolina Committee for the Humanities, whose support is gratefully acknowledged. The Middleton Place Foundation, and its Director, Sarah Lytle, provided advice and encouragement. The author appreciates the assistance of the staff of the Institute of Archeology and Anthropology. Essential to the production of this book were Gordon Brown, Photographer; Darby Erd, Artist-Illustrator; Kenneth Pinson, Editorial Assistant; Mary Joyce Burns, Typist; Kenneth Lewis, Archeologist; and William Marquardt, Associate Director.
Artifacts in the photographs are in possession of the Middleton Place Foundation, Charleston, South Carolina, and the Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.
The land that now comprises Middleton Place lies in one of the earliest areas inhabited by Englishmen in South Carolina. In 1674, just four years after the first colonists settled at Charles Town, Lord Proprietor Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper granted lands for settlement along the lower reaches of the Ashley River. Among these was the site of Middleton Place, deeded in 1675 to Jacob Waight. Waight apparently forfeited his claim to the tract, and in 1700, it was granted to Richard Godfrey, who sold it in 1729 to John Williams, a wealthy landowner and justice of the peace. The land passed into Middleton hands in 1741, when John Williams’ daughter Mary married Henry Middleton, the second son of former provincial governor Arthur Middleton.