Tatnall, James Spalding, Richard Leake, 

 and Alexander Bisset — all of Georgia. Its 

 tii-st cultivator.s in that State were Josiah 

 Tatnall, Nicholas Turnbull, James Spalding. 

 and Eichard Leake. The first bag export- 

 ed from Georgia was by Alexander Bisset, of 

 St. Simon's Lsland, in the year 1788, or, in the 

 opinion of some, by a Mr. Miller, who for that 

 reason still bears the name of " Cotton Miller." 

 The Bahama seed did not give fniit the first 

 year, but from the mildness of the winter of 

 ITSti. seed was obtained from the rattoon, and 

 tlie plant became acclimated.'* 



The black seed Cotton region of this State is 

 bounded on the North and northwest by a line 

 about 20 miles South of the line that separates 

 Barnwell and Orangeburg from the neighbor- 

 ing pari.'ihcs; on the north-east and East by the 

 Sautee river ;t on the West and south-west by 

 the Savannah river, and on the South and south- 

 east by the Ocean. The Eutaw Springs, in St. 

 John's Berklej', is the extreme northern point 

 to ^^hich it extends. Williamsburg wa.s, for 

 many years, embraced in its limits ; but that dis- 

 trict no longer furnishes a supply of the raw ma- 

 terial. About the year 1812, three or four plant- 

 ers, as an experiment, introduced its culture in- 

 to the southern part of Sumter district. The 

 quantity and quality of the crops ^vere sufficient- 

 h- encouraging, but, as the preparation of the 

 wool w^as objectionable, the growers abandoned 

 tJieir enterprise for the reason of the large ex- 

 penditure of labor and time that it recjuired. — 

 The first attempt in South-Carolina to raise a 

 crop of long Cotton was made, in 1788, by Mrs. 

 Kinsey Burden, of Burden's Island. St. Paul's 

 Parish. As early as about the year 1779, this 

 and the short staple Cottons were produced by 

 her husband, whose negroes were then clad in 

 homespun of home manufacture. Although 

 Mrs. Burden's field, the larger portion of -v\'hich 

 w^as in com, was manured \vith compost, the 

 plants did not begin to bloom until Se]>tember, 

 and not a pod ripened. The cause of failure 

 was subsequently traced to the seed, which was 

 of the Bourbon kind.t The first successful crop 

 appears to have beeu grown by William Elliot, 

 deceased, on Hilton Head, near Beaufort, in 

 ) 1790, witli ^1^ bushels of seed, purchased in 

 5 Oharleston at the rate of 14s. per bushel.^ The 



* These interesting facts, except what is said of Mr. 

 Miller, rest on the aiithority of Thomas Spalding, of 

 Sapelo Island, Georgia : 



'• While lately at Savannah, Mr. Scott brought to 

 see me a very respectable gentleman from the Baha- 

 mas, a merchant, but also the Speaker of then- Colo- 

 nial Assembly ; who stated he had been applied to 

 from Louisiana the last winter to procure Mve bush- 

 o!s of Cotton seed, and strange, what had been Eng- 

 iaml's best Cotton colony a lew years back, did not 

 aflbrd this small supply — the gentleman could not 

 procure a seed ; and what did the Negroes live upon, 

 I asked ? Upon Sago, made from the Conti plant, 

 which was gi-owing in the woods, and which they 

 J 5iBd been tauirht to prepare, no doubt, from some of 

 the Indian Negroes from Florida — many of whom 

 had taken shelter in the Bahamas. What a lesson 

 upon Knglish legislation for her colonies !" — [Extract 

 of a letter from Thomas Spalding; of Georgia, to the 

 tcrifer. 



t West of that linn some sreen Cotton is also sTown. 



i All attempts to naturalize the Bourbon (.'otton, 

 though it strongly resembles the green seed species, 

 have failed. 



^ The original paper, " An account current between 

 W'illiain Elliot and .Tacob DeveauK," showing the 

 purchase of the seed in 1769, was kindly put into the 

 hands of the writer by William Elliot, Esq. of Beau- 



_ (H84) 



Cotton brought 10^(/. per pound. In 1791, John 

 Screven, of St. Luke's Parish, planted 30 or 40 

 acres at liis Montpelier plantation on May river. 

 The product was packed in the article called 

 Hessians, and sold, in Georgia, to Mr. Troup, 

 Robert Bolton, and Mr. Miller, for l.s. 2r/. to Is. 

 (id. sterling per pound, in 1792. John Ro.se cul- 

 tivated a small field on theOakatee creek, from 

 which he gathered 600 lbs. which commanded, 

 hi the Savannah market. 2s. a poimd. It is cer- 

 tain that, at this period, n^auy planters on the 

 Sea-Islands, and contiguous main land, experi- 

 mented with long Cotton, and. probably, it was 

 produced by several of them lor market. The 

 sca.son of 1793 found cultivators in other sections 

 of the State engaged in the good vork ; among 

 them James King of St. Paul's Parish, Col. Ed- 

 ward Barnwell and Capt. John Joyner of Port 

 Royal, and Gen. W^illiam M'oultrie of St. John's 

 Berkley. The crop of Mr. King yielded abund- 

 antly, and was sold by Kiusey Burden, now of 

 St. John's Colleton, at I2d. to I3d. the pound : 

 that of the latter, at his Northampton plantation, 

 covering a field of 150 acres, was a decided fail- 

 ure — the result of an uuacquaiutauce with the 

 proper mode of management, in connection, 

 probably, with an unfavorable season. In at- 

 tempting to raise .so new a product on so large a 

 scale, and thereby encountering the hazard of 

 sacrificing the labor of a year, Gen. Moultrie 

 gave a signal proof of his devotion to the true 

 interests of South-Carolina. He had gallantly 

 defended her in war ; in peace he was still her 

 ardent friend, diligently seeking opportunities 

 to nourish and sustain her. But to return from 

 this digression. The Cotton culture trom this 

 time progressed rapidly. In all the Parishes 

 the practical friends to its extension greatly mul- 

 tiplied. Against each other this plant and indi- 

 go struggled for the ascendency. In 1798,* the 

 latter had very generally ceased to be grown 

 for market. 



As an evidence of the former value of this 

 species of the gos.~ypium, and of the success of 

 some of its growlers, it is \vorthy of record that 

 Peter Gaillard, of St. John's Berkley, in 1799, 

 averaged 78 pounds sterling per hand. In that 

 year, James Sinkler, of the same Parish, from a 

 field of 300 acres, realized 216 lbs. per acre, for 

 most of vidiich he received 3s. a pound. W^il- 

 liam Brisbane, deceased, at his White Point 

 plantation, St. Paul's Parish, was so successful 

 in 1796, '97, and '98, that, from moderate cir- 

 cumstances, he became, in his judgment, so in- 

 dependent as no longer to engage in the toil- 

 some task of cultivating the earth. He sold his 

 landed estate to William Seabrook, of Edisto 

 Lsland, at a price held by many to be niinous to 

 the latter.t and pas.sed a few years in traveling 

 in our Northern States and in Europe.^ 



While the larger portion of the seed used in 



fort. As Cotton seed was for sale in that year, other 

 planters, it is probable, cultivated it as a crop In '90, 

 but their names are unknown. 



* At that eaily period, the opinion prevailed that 

 the .«upply of Cotton would soon CNxeed the demand. 

 A highly i-espectable planter of St. John's Colleton, 

 deceased, in looking at his tirst crop, the produce of 

 a few acres, after it had been housed, exclaimed — 

 " W'ell, well, I am done wath the cultivation pf Cot- 

 ton ! Here is' enough to make stockings for all the 

 people in America." 



t Mr. Seabrook, with the proceeds of the crops of 

 the plantation, paid the purchase-money in two yeans. 



X It is questionable whether the Sea-Island planter, 

 for the last five years, has realized over 5 per cent, on 

 his capital. 



