William Sams, grandson of Colonel John “Tuscarora Jack” Barnwell, was born in South Carolina on April 18, 1741. With the fall of Charleston and Beaufort during the American Revolution, William was forced to leave his home on Wadmalaw Island and purchased Dataw Island in 1783. At Dataw, he began to grow Sea Island cotton. It was cotton that made the Sams family wealthy and the Beaufort region “the exclusive home of the most exclusive few of that most exclusive aristocracy.”
Articles from this era address the period 1783 to 1865.
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF DATAW ISLAND ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE SAMS PLANTATION COMPLEX This report documents architectural and archaeological data recovery that has been conducted at five historic…
THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF DATAW ISLAND ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS AT THE SAMS PLANTATION COMPLEX This report documents architectural and archaeological data recovery that has been conducted at five historic…
The history of Sea Island Cotton was presented by Bill Riski of the Dataw Historic Foundation on Sep 30, 2019. In the late 1700’s, a superior type of cotton made…
The following Chain of Title lists all of the documented owners of Dataw Island from 1682 up through the purchase of Dataw Island by ALCOA South Carolina, Inc. in 1983.
“Having passed the half century mark, I now can look back with more complete understanding and appreciation for the noble, kind, generous, understanding gentleman of the old school whom through the graciousness of Heaven I have the privilege of calling my father.”
Written by Mrs. Travis Johnson (Katie Lucia Sams), great great granddaughter of William and Elizabeth Sams.
This two-part article from the South Carolina Historical Magazine is one of the finest genealogical sources on the Sams Family. It was published in 1963 and authored by two of William Sams’ gggranddaughters. It begins,
“Bonham Sams, II, the progenitor of the Sams family of South Carolina, was baptized 2 February, 1663, in St. Mary’s Parish Church, North Petherton Parish, County of Somerset, England, as “Bonham Sam, son of Thomas Sam” and his wife, Mary Bagge, also of this parish. He was the third generation of his family known to have worshiped here in the faith of the Established Church of England. In St. Mary’s ancient church- yard are buried his parents, also his grandparents—Bonham Samme, I, and his wife, Mary Shutte.
Bonham Sams, II, was the only one of his father’s sons to leave for the New World. His brothers, Thomas, Edward, Daniel, William, and Roger, are buried in England; and from available records it appears that
the male line of descent died out in England by 1735.”
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This is a copy of the wall display you see when visiting our History & Learning Center on Dataw Island.
This is a copy of the wall display you see when visiting our History & Learning Center on Dataw Island.
The early owners of Dataw from 1755 through 1861, the beginning of the Civil War.
A story about the Dairy/Blade house in the Sams Family Plantation ruins complex.
