Joshua John Ward

Joshua John Ward, of Georgetown County, South Carolina, is known as the American who enslaved the most people in the early 1850s,^[1] dubbed "the king of the rice planters".^[2]

In 1850, Ward enslaved 1,092 people;^[2] Ward enslaved the most people in the United States before he died in 1853. In 1860, Ward's heirs (his estate) enslaved 1,130 or 1,131 people.^[1][2]

The Brookgreen Plantation, where Ward was born and later lived, has been preserved. In 1992, it was designated a National Historic Landmark District. The house and plantation are part of a park, Brookgreen Gardens.

Ward was born November 24, 1800, at the Brookgreen Plantation, South Carolina, the son of Joshua Ward, a planter and banker, and his wife Elizabeth Cook.^[3]

Ward married Joanna Douglas Hasell in South Carolina on March 14, 1825. They lived chiefly with their family at Brookgreen Plantation. Ward died there on February 27, 1853; at the time of his death, he enslaved ten people.^[3]

Born into the planter class, Ward was taught the skills and knowledge to take on such responsibilities as an adult. He was likely tutored at home as part of his education. During his life, Ward inherited Brookgreen Plantation and acquired several others, using the land for rice production, the major commodity crop in antebellum South Carolina. Ward also bought more enslaved African Americans as laborers for these plantations.

Ward became politically active in the Democratic Party, which plantation owners dominated in the antebellum years. Ward was elected as the 44th lieutenant governor of South Carolina, serving from 1850 to 1852 under Governor John Hugh Means.

Brookgreen Plantation has been preserved as part of Brookgreen Gardens Park. The plantation and its contributing buildings were designated National Historic Landmark District in 1992 after being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.