Wambaw Plantation

Front: Ball and Henry Laurens in 1756. Later a major S.C. political leader, Laurens’s stake in Wambaw first qualified him for legislative office. Ball managed Wambaw until his 1764 death. Around that time, 79 enslaved people lived and worked on the 3,000-ac. property. Ball’s son Elias became its sole owner in 1769. Reverse: Elias Ball was a Loyalist during the Revolutionary War. Early on May 6, 1780, Patriot cavalry rode from Lenud’s Ferry (12 mi. NE) to surprise a detachment of British dragoons stationed at Wambaw. They took 14 prisoners with no casualties. All escaped later that day when the Patriots were routed at the Battle of Lenud’s Ferry. Elias Ball fled to Florida with other Loyalists in 1782.