Joshua John Ward

Joshua John Ward
Born(1800-11-24)November 24, 1800
Brookgreen Plantation, Georgetown County, South Carolina
DiedFebruary 27, 1853(1853-02-27) (aged 52)
Brookgreen Plantation Georgetown County, S.C.

Joshua John Ward, of Georgetown County, South Carolina, is known as the American slaveholder who owned the most slaves at one point,[1] dubbed "the king of the rice planters".[2]

In 1850 he held 1,092 slaves;[2] Ward was the largest slaveholder in the United States before his death in 1853. In 1860 his heirs (his estate) held 1,130 or 1,131 slaves.[1][2]

The Brookgreen Plantation, where he was born and later lived, has been preserved. It was designated as a National Historic Landmark District in 1992. The house and plantation are now part of a park called Brookgreen Gardens.

  1. ^ a b The Sixteen Largest American Slaveholders from 1860 Slave Census Schedules Archived 2013-07-19 at the Wayback Machine, Transcribed by Tom Blake, April to July 2001, (updated October, 2001 and December 2004 – now includes 19 holders)
  2. ^ a b c "Boundaries and Opportunities: Comparing Slave Family Formation in the Antebellum South"[permanent dead link], Damian Alan Pargas, Journal of Family History, 2008; 33; 316, doi:10.1177/0363199008318919