| 1679/07/28 |
|
|
Stephen Fox buys 402 acres on the south side of the Ashley River. The land will eventually become Magnolia Plantation. |
|
|
|
| 1680/00/00 |
Thomas Drayton, the Founder |
Owner |
By 1680 Thomas Drayton builds a manor house (lost) on the Ashley River and lays out a French garden. The Flowerdale, a live oak allee along the Old Boardwalk to Ashley River and an 18th century herb garden survive. |
|
|
|
| 1698/00/00 |
|
|
Thomas Drayton and his wife, Ann Fox Drayton, receive 150 acres of the Ashley River as a wedding present from the father of the bride, Stephen Fox. |
|
|
|
| 1700/00/00 |
|
|
Drayton family vault is constructed of brick and marble. |
|
|
|
| 1708/00/00 |
Honorable Thomas Drayton |
Born |
Ann Fox Drayton, wife of Thomas Drayton, gives birth to a son, Thomas Drayton, at Magnolia Plantation on the Ashley River, outside of Charleston. Some sources say the birth year was 1700. |
|
|
|
| 1716/00/00 |
Thomas Drayton, the Founder |
Died |
Thomas Drayton dies. Mr Drayton is laid to rest in a German made lead coffin in Magnolia Plantation burial vault. |
|
|
|
| 1716/00/00 |
Royal Judge John Drayton I |
Born |
John Drayton is born in 1715 or early 1716, the youngest of three sons to Thomas Drayton III and Ann Drayton at the family's Magnolia Plantation. |
|
|
|
| 1717/06/05 |
Thomas Drayton, the Founder |
In Memoriam |
Thomas Drayton's will dated 12 June 1714 includes 1380 head of cattle, 112 horses, 3027 acres and 91 slaves who work five rice plantations. |
|
|
|
| 1732/03/21 |
Judge William Drayton |
Born |
William Drayton is born the son of Hon Thomas and Elizabeth Bull Drayton at Magnolia Plantation, St Andrews Parish, in the Province of South Carolina, British America. |
|
|
|
| 1734/12/21 |
Mary Drayton De Brahm |
Born |
Elizabeth Bull Drayton, wife of Thomas Drayton, gives birth to a daughter, Mary Drayton, at Magnolia Plantation in St Andrews Parish, Province of South Carolina. |
|
|
|
| 1811/00/00 |
|
|
The original manor house is destroyed by a fire. Thomas Glen Drayton will soon build a new residence (lost). The second house may have been destroyed by the slaves during the Civil War. |
|
|
|
| 1825/00/00 |
Rev John Grimke Drayton |
Home |
Thomas and John Grimke inherit Magnolia Plantation from their uncle, Thomas Drayton, the great grandson of Magnolia's first Drayton (Thomas). A condition in the will requires that they take their mother's maiden name of Drayton. |
|
|
|
| 1840/00/00 |
Rev John Grimke Drayton |
Health |
After contracting tuberculosis, John G Drayton takes the advise of his doctor, ("If you want to live, John, you must dig in the soil.") begins gardening at Magnolia-on-the-Ashley where he plants Azalea indica that were grown in Philadelphia greenhouses. |
|
|
|
| 1840/00/00 |
|
|
Rev John G Drayton has the inland rice fields flooded to become ornamental lakes or allows them to return to swamp. The tidal and the inland fields represent an extensive network of intact dikes and canals dating from the early 18C. |
|
|
|
| 1850/00/00 |
|
|
Four two-room wood-frame buildings with lap siding and a gable roof are built as housing for enslaved workers. |
|
|
|
| 1870/00/00 |
|
|
A single-story, wood-framed schoolhouse is built by Rev John Grimke Drayton for the children of the black gardeners. |
|
|
|
| 1872/00/00 |
Charles Sprague Sargent |
Advisor |
With encouragement from Charles S Sargent, director of the Arnold Arboretum, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens opens for public tours in the spring of 1872. Tourists sail up the Ashley River from Charleston in steamboats to visit the gardens. |
|
|
|
| 1873/00/00 |
|
|
Grimke has a house in Summerville dismantled and floated down the Ashley by barge to Magnolia. Originally built as a summer home c 1770, the residence is set on the foundation of the 2nd house and embellished Victorian details. |
|
|
|
| 1886/08/31 |
Rev John Grimke Drayton |
Plantation Owner |
Charleston Earthquake destroys plantation buildings and cracks the Drayton family tomb at Magnolia-on-the-Ashley. |
|
|
1886 Charleston Earthquake |