Joshua John Ward | |
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Born | |
Died | February 27, 1853 Brookgreen Plantation Georgetown County, S.C. | (aged 52)
Joshua John Ward, of Georgetown County, South Carolina, is known as the American who enslaved the most people in the early 1850s,[1] dubbed "the king of the rice planters".[2]
In 1850, Ward enslaved 1,092 people;[2] Ward enslaved the most people in the United States before he died in 1853. In 1860, Ward's heirs (his estate) enslaved 1,130 or 1,131 people.[1][2]
The Brookgreen Plantation, where Ward was born and later lived, has been preserved. In 1992, it was designated a National Historic Landmark District. The house and plantation are part of a park, Brookgreen Gardens.