Spring Island continued... Sometime during the 1780's a descendant of John Cochran, probably Mary Cochran Edwards, built a tabby plantation house on this expanse overlooking Port Royal Sound and the surrounding marshes. Eventually flanking wings were added to the main structure in 1820 by George Edwards. A model of how it appeared mid 1800's before the Great War:
Tabby, a common form of construction in the Lowcountry, was made by burning oyster shells with oak wood then combining the resulting lyme with sand and water. This mixture was poured into molds forming large blocks. After building the structure the walls would then be covered in plaster.
Under the auspices of George Edwards this plantation became one of the most profitable, producing the much desired "black seed" or "long staple" cotton. This cotton was only produced on a handful of islands--Edisto, Hilton Head, and Spring--- and became known as Sea Island cotton. From 1850 to 1853 Sea Island cotton was the "most valuable agricultural commodity in the world".
George Edwards died before the onset of the War Between the States. His son, James Edwards, was forced to flee inland when Federal pickets took control of his lands. The house burned at some point and was in continual litigation for years after the war.
Today, as you leave the home and head westward, you are traveling under the canopy of a great oak allee'. About 300 yards ahead of you is a emerald, mossy mound enveloped by live oaks with the ever present Spanish moss and Resurrection fern. The mound is topped by a large statue of St Francis of Assisi. I was told while on the island that this was built as a memorial to a daughter who had died at a young age. Later her sister was married here.
The wedding I am here to photograph will take place here also.
Prayer of St. Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Tabby, a common form of construction in the Lowcountry, was made by burning oyster shells with oak wood then combining the resulting lyme with sand and water. This mixture was poured into molds forming large blocks. After building the structure the walls would then be covered in plaster.
Under the auspices of George Edwards this plantation became one of the most profitable, producing the much desired "black seed" or "long staple" cotton. This cotton was only produced on a handful of islands--Edisto, Hilton Head, and Spring--- and became known as Sea Island cotton. From 1850 to 1853 Sea Island cotton was the "most valuable agricultural commodity in the world".
George Edwards died before the onset of the War Between the States. His son, James Edwards, was forced to flee inland when Federal pickets took control of his lands. The house burned at some point and was in continual litigation for years after the war.
Today, as you leave the home and head westward, you are traveling under the canopy of a great oak allee'. About 300 yards ahead of you is a emerald, mossy mound enveloped by live oaks with the ever present Spanish moss and Resurrection fern. The mound is topped by a large statue of St Francis of Assisi. I was told while on the island that this was built as a memorial to a daughter who had died at a young age. Later her sister was married here.The wedding I am here to photograph will take place here also.
Prayer of St. FrancisLord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
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