Beneventum Plantation

Front: The main house at Beneventum dates to c. 1755. It was likely commissioned by William Fyffe, a surgeon and Scottish emigrant who acquired 500 acres from James Coachman in 1754. Fyffe’s plantation was known as The Grove. Christopher Gadsden owned an adjacent plantation called Charing Cross Ferry. Gadsden was a statesman and Patriot, serving as a brigadier general in the Continental Army. Reverse: John Julius Pringle acquired parts of The Grove and Charing Cross Ferry plantations in 1806. The land included ferry rights across the Black River. In 1829 Pringle also acquired the house and would rename the plantation Beneventum, which is loosely translated from the Italian meaning “good wind.” The name was meant to advertise that this was a favorable crossing site.