Thomas Heyward Jr. Tomb / Old House Plantation Site
The Thomas Heyward Jr. Tomb, located at the site of the former Old House Plantation near Ridgeland, is the final resting place of one of South Carolina’s four signers of the Declaration of Independence. While Heyward is synonymous with the political birth of the United States, this site serves as a somber reminder of the immense personal and material sacrifices made by the Lowcountry’s Patriot elite.
The “Signer-Soldier” of the Lowcountry
Thomas Heyward Jr. was a man of dual service. After signing the Declaration in Philadelphia in 1776, he returned to South Carolina not just as a statesman, but as a combat officer. He served as a captain in the Charleston Battalion of Artillery, commanding the very guns that repelled British regulars at the Battle of Port Royal Island in 1779.
The Destruction of White Hall
Heyward’s outspoken defiance made him a primary target for British retaliation. In February 1779, during the British naval and land incursion into the Beaufort District, a raiding party led by Captain Patrick Murray landed on Port Royal Island. The British systematically targeted Heyward’s properties, specifically burning his elegant White Hall Plantation to the ground. This act of “strategic arson” was intended to punish Heyward for his “treason” against the Crown and to break the morale of the local resistance.
Captivity and the Old House Legacy
Following the fall of Charleston in 1780, Heyward was captured and exiled to a prison fortress in St. Augustine, Florida, alongside fellow signer Edward Rutledge. Upon his eventual release and the conclusion of the war, he returned to manage his family’s estates, including Old House, which he had inherited from his father, Daniel Heyward.
Thomas Heyward Jr. died in 1809 and was buried in the family plot at Old House. In 1920, the State of South Carolina recognized his pivotal role in American history by erecting a grand monument and a bronze bust at the tomb site, which remains a protected state historic site today.
