LowCountry Africana : John Drayton

John Drayton (ca. 1715-1779)

Name: John Drayton

Born: before 1716

Place of Birth: Magnolia Plantation, St. Andrews Parish, Charleston District, SC

Married: 1: Sarah Cattell 15 Feb 1736; 2. Charlotte Bull 1741; 3. Margaret Glen 25 Feb 1752; 4. Rebecca Perry 16 Mar 1775

Died: 1779

Place of Death: Charleston, SC

family group sheet

1 Thomas Drayton d: ca. 1724

+ Ann Unknown d: ca. 1741

2 Mary Drayton b: ca. 1700-1704 d: ca. 1751
2 Thomas Drayton b: ca. 1710 d: 11 Nov 1760

2 Stephen Fox Drayton b: ca. 1713 d: January 1733

2 John Drayton b: before 1716 d: Oct 1779

           + Sarah Cattell
            3 Stephen Fox Drayton b: 13 Nov 1737 d: 9 Sept 1739
            3 William Drayton b: 24 Dec 1738 d: 9 Sept 1740
        + Charlotte Bull b: 15 Aug 1719 d: 30 Dec 1743
            3 William Henry Drayton b: 20 Sep 1742 d: 4 Sep 1779
               + Dorothy Golightly b: 29 Mar 1747 d: 1780
            3 Charles Drayton b: 23 Dec 1743 d: 11 Aug 1820

               + Hester Middleton b: 15 Sep 1754 d: 10 Nov 1789
        + Margaret Glen d: 1772
            3 Glen Drayton b: ca. 1753 d: ca. 1796
               + Eliza Elliott d: 17 May 1795
            3 Thomas Drayton b: 5 Oct 1758 d: 1825
               + Mary Wilson
       + Rebecca Perry b: 19 Feb 1758 d: before 2 Oct 1840
            3 Susannah Drayton b: ca. 1777 d: 1801

3 Anna Drayton
+ Edward Perry Jr.

3 John Drayton d: 1791

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John Drayton: Biographical Information

Builder of Drayton Hall, purchased land from John and Phebe Green March 2, 1738

First wife Sarah Cattell and two sons died in 1739 and 1740

Second wife Charlotte Bull was daughter of then Lieutenant Governor William Bull and Mary Quintyne

Third wife Margaret Glen was sister of Royal Governor James Glen

Inheritance, Acquisitions, Bequests

Inherited:

From Father Thomas Drayton, aka Thomas the Immigrant, to be Divided Equally with Brother Stephen Fox Drayton:

Remaining one-half of the Stono lands not bequeathed to older brother Thomas
360 acres in Stono, purchased separately from the lands above
Cow pen and stock at Abram’s Savanna
Remaining one-half of enslaved African and Native American people not bequeathed to older brother Thomas

From Brother Stephen Fox Drayton, Probate ca. 1735:

Stono lands and dwelling house to pass to John and his heirs upon the death of Mother Ann Drayton (Probate 1742)
Enslaved people, from Estate Inventory, 1735:

Monday a Negroe fellow

Peter & Samuel

Fourty Old

Fourty Young

Seaborn Young

Kitt & Abraham

Calanah

Hester

Jamy Carpenter

Buck & Jo

Benny

Alice

Cyrus

August an Indian

Ned

Mingo

Bess & Child

Hannah

Sam

Remainder of Stephen's estate, real and personal, not named as special bequests

From Mother Ann Drayton, Probate 1742:

Half of enslaved people not named as special bequests
Land known as Hogg Island
Lands at Coosawhatchee
Land in Caw Caw Swamp
One half of town lot in Charleston ("my son John Drayton to have that part as the Buildings are on"), brother Thomas Drayton to have other half
One half of lands at Red Bank and stock, brother Thomas to have other half
Law books formerly belonging to Stephen Fox Drayton

Acquired:

350 acres on Ashley River, purchased from John and Phebe Green March 2, 1738 (future site of Drayton Hall)

EsTate of John Drayton (ca. 1715-1779)

No will or estate inventory has, as yet, been located for John Drayton, despite the efforts of many determined historians in the United States and abroad. John is said to have died possessed of ten plantations and as many as 700 enslaved people.

We do have collateral documents to begin piecing together his slaveholdings, many of them gleaned from GenealogyBank.com, thanks to their efforts to digitize millions of pages of historical South Carolina newspapers. We are compiling and cross referencing these sources in order to recover the names of the hundreds of enslaved people in John Drayton's estate.

references cited

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